Skip to main content

I Want: Tantrums

Unable to speak yet, Patrick defines what he wants in various ways: pointing, grunting, grabbing, yelling, screaming, and recently dropping to the floor and crying or standing in front of me and bouncing with a smile on his face.

Most of these behaviors are pretty clear and easy to manage.

Often, he gets to play with what he wants or where he wants, barring any unsafe behavior ... on the stove top whether food is cooking or not, under the sink where we store chemicals, near the top of the stairs (unsupervised) ... you get the idea. We love that he has a variety of interests and wants to explore.

It's pretty cool to watch him taking all the pots and pans from under the counter and trying to carry them to the front door ... he eventually gets tired using both arms to hold the weight and drags the pot or pan behind him ... very cool!

The first few tantrums were kind of scary ... dropping to the floor, face down, and then tears that then raged into something much scarier. Recently, I tried something I heard about (yes, I do read the odd web-page here and there) ... I dropped down with him and mimicked his behavior.

It shocked him ... completely out of the tantrum. He looked at me and laughed out loud. It was a deep belly laugh. Then, he cocked his head back and slammed it into my chin ... not his first headbutt, but certainly unexpected. Once I knew to watch for his head swinging toward me it was pretty funny overall ... and definitely much more fun than any other method we used to try to get him to stop screaming ...

Labels

Labels:
Location: Columbus, OH, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Terror or Anger

Jennifer and I woke about twenty minutes ago to Patrick crying ... nothing unusual. I asked her to get him since I have to start getting ready for work in about three hours (yes, I have to work on a Saturday). Where things became unusual was the loud, sustained crash, and Patrick's cries rising to a hefty scream. Being the concerned parent that I am ... with visions of his changing table collapsed on top of him, I rushed to their aid. "What was that?" I cried. Jennifer, weakly replied, "I fell down the stairs." With Patrick screaming at the top of his lungs, I think I actually asked her to repeat what she said. I found my wife sitting, with her legs out and my son in her arms, at the bottom of the stairs. Asking if she and Patrick were OK was mixed into confused questioning about what happened. Somehow, her feet went out from under her (we suspect a couple of the leaves that Patrick likes to play with were on the steps). While my real concern was i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Building Character

... in my Child. I really don't want him to be a character ... I want to help him develop "strength of character." I have always enjoyed the challenges in my life, or more correctly I enjoy solving the issues that arise.  I love solving complex problems in situations that call forth my personal strengths ... ingenuity, imagination, teamwork, experienced judgment, persistence, and will power.  Every day at work, I solve problems through the exercise of these strengths.  I know that the greatest challenge I face will be raising my child well. Knowing this, I realize that there is no clear cut path that I can take when faced with the challenge of being a good father to Patrick as he grow and develops ... and no single correct path I need to take to "solve this problem." I need to remember, as Patrick grows up, to  encourage  him rather than being just a critic in his life.  I know that it is tempting at times to focus on the mistakes of others, whil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Solo Papa

I have got my son by myself until Tuesday night ... not truly by myself, but it feels that way. Jen is at a conference from Sunday to Wednesday ... and I get to be a solo Papa! I do have to be at work at six in the morning and daycare opens at seven ... so Papap is pitching in to get Patrick to school. But, other than that, he is all mine. We had a fun time last night ... dinner with Papap, then he got hungry again once we got home (don't forget the pretzels he tried to get into ... all over the floor). We got a bath ... smiles and laughter all around. Toward nine in the evening, he was getting tired and obviously looking for Mama (who usually gets him to sleep). I tried all kinds of things and gave up after about thirty minutes and threw him  in the back of the car and drove around until he dropped off ... then, he slept all night! More fun to come ... one day down and two to go!
Post a Comment
Read more