Z has always been an observer. Whenever she enters a new situation, she prefers to wait at the edges and watch, preferably while being held by Mommy or Daddy. It's interesting to watch her watching. She notices things I don't; fixating on objects or situations that I would never focus on. Above all, she loves to watch other kids.
Unfortunately, lately she's been laser focusing on other kids... as they throw ear-splitting, mind-melting tantrums.
Yesterday at our Parenting Ed class, Z spun all the way around in her chair to STARE at a girl pitching a fit over not being allowed to run around with food. You could totally see the gears turning in Z's head as she watched the tantrum unfold: "So THAT'S how it's done. Let's see, I better remember this.... high pitched wailing, arms and legs flailing, limp-and-yet-spastic when Mom attempts to pick you up... GOT IT."
I tried in vain to distract her from Tantrum 101. When she later asked for something she couldn't have, the tantrum storm clouds started to gather on her face and so I tickled her and then distracted her with something else. It worked, thank Chocolate, but totally made me sweat. I know our distraction days are numbered.
At the playground on Monday, a boy a bit older than Z (who seemed to be working on his dissertation: "Why holler when you can scream: advanced tantrum techniques for the overachiever.") had one of the scariest tantrums I've ever seen. The poor mom was trying anything and everything to calm this kid down, finally resorting to bribery. When even the bribes didn't work, she glanced over at me and I tried to silently speak with my eyes: "Dude. If bribes don't work, WHAT CAN YOU DO?"
4 comments:
I used to get embarassed when I took Mimi somewhere as a infant and she cried. Now I see infants and think how quiet they really are, as compared to the full-scale, eardrum-shattering howl of a toddler.
Wait, TICKLING works? Oh, man. You would FEEL THE WRATH if you tried that with AD.
Yeah, other kids are great for introducing bad new habits. My SIL's three year old recently taught Addy all about the word "mine" and when exactly to employ it. Now she has become a grabby little thing with her toys and with anything else she takes a fancy to, and insists furiously, "Mine!" if you try to rescue your glasses or pen or lotion.
A 21 month old going through a phase started pushing Mira during a playgroup. Mira was confused and upset by it. She looked at me with this sad little face that begged me to make it right. In her world people weren't mean. Of course she was still processing the whole thing the next day when she pushed me. Something she didn't even know existed until the 21 month old introduced it to her. Thankfully that seems to be the end of this incident. However, sadly there will be many more. This is that socialization thing that everyone talks about. It is supposed to be a good thing. But right now I am not so sure.
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