There’s nothing more frightening than witnessing a toddler tantrum.
Well, Madonna without make up might come close. Heh.
But seriously, despite the on-going hell raising incidents, does your head ever condition itself to stop pounding from the incessant screams?
For the most part, I’ve somewhat learned how to “cope”.
It’s realizing that they don’t understand why they’re going through it.
And for a little person who’s confused as to what’s going on in their head, they can sure as hell do a lot of damage.
How my beloved twinlets can turn from cute, delicate angels to steely strong destructive monsters in a flat second, I’ll never know.
Well, actually I do. It’s triggered by that inkling of tiredness or small pang of hunger.
For instance, the twinlets went through this phase where their foot HAD to be held while we were in the car.
I somehow had to do a yoga twist to reach out to the back seat and not only try to calm one but two children.
It was getting to the point of absurdity (or more like parent slavery). Without any other option, we went cold turkey.
No more soothing feet.
Ignore the tears instead.
Block your ears to the screams.
After much conditioning, I somehow found my happy place (Drinking a cocktail beside a pool in Bali, of course).
One morning though, K-Bear wasn’t going to give in to the sudden lack of feet attention. He wanted a foot rub, damn it.
Kicking and screaming all the way to the swimming pool (which felt far longer than the 20 minutes it took), he tried to escape from his car seat, busting out of the shoulder straps.
We were indeed the heartless parents who had seized him in a state of confinement.
And in his wild jungle protests, my little 3 year old monkey managed to kick off the interior door handle.
All that remains is this…
Oh, and this…
We can all laugh about it now. Just.
In fact, I’m now positive that twins start giving each other flack as early as 3 years of age because Nunu will occasionally point at the door and say:
“Look Mama, what happened to the door?”
Ah, it sounds like an innocent question but it’s obvious what he’s hinting at.
Enough so that K-Bear will mumble in reply:
“I’m sorry, Mama. I’m sorry…”
At least we still have 3 functioning door handles.
Besides your sanity, what has your toddler broken during a full-blown tantrum?
Joining Essentially Jess for another fabulous round of IBOT
Oh…I know I shouldn’t laugh – except I’m a little in awe that either of those angel faced boys could possibly wreak this damage!
My twins only ever threw tantrums in public – in the supermarket. That was always ‘their unhappy place’ – I learnt to prepare for war – snacks, toys and getting shopping done in 20 mins. Anything over that time frame meant instant tantrum.
kirri recently posted..How to start loving yourself right now
Thankfully my son hasn’t broken anything other than a few of his own toys – which serves him right !
Visiting from the IBOT Linky…
Oh My God!! I would go beserk! (but I will never win mother of the year). I say kudos to you if you were as understanding as you seem in your post. That said, until I saw the photo of the door, I was reading and thinking I’d gladly take the tantrums over the incessant sibling arguing and niggling and being nasty to each other (once they’re older). It’s much harder to ignore and write off as a normal development stage…
Lydia C. Lee recently posted..Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) (part 2)
They can be such dictators you find yourself doing ANYTHING to stave off a meltdown! Mine have never broken anything except my sanity from time to time thank God.
I have one son (Mr 8) who can get very worked up abuot things and has been known to kick a wall in frustration with his brothers or himself. I find being calm and doing lot’s of quiet talking with him helps. Don’t know how that would go with toddlers though!
Rachel recently posted..The Siren Song of Salami
Ohhhh!!! Yes nothing quite compares to a toddler that doesn’t get what they want, and is a little tired or hungry! We haven’t reached full blown toddler tantrum mode yet, but the other day he grabbed my husbands glass deodorant bottle and launched it onto the tile floor from the top of the stairs, needless to say, deodorant and glass EVERYWHERE. x Karen #teamIBOT
Karen recently posted..One Little Drive
Oh no!!!!! My first child is the really calm and easy going, never really had problem with tantrums. My 2nd baby though.. she’s a real fierce little thing. She kicks, screams, lays on the ground in public. Really bad. Dont think she has broken anything (yet!). Love this post! x
Mandy recently posted..How The Strong Young Men Made Me Feel (And It’s Not What You Think)
Oh wow! That was pretty some impressive damage! My toddler would nod in approval.. 😉
iSophie recently posted..Embracing the last warmth
AAARGH! Madonna without makeup!
I know what you mean. My girl is tiny. TINY. And SO well-behaved 97% of the time. But the force with which she will throw herself against her bedroom door when she’s mid-tantrum and gets put in there to calm down? You would think there was a herd of rhinoceroses in there!
Emily recently posted..Don’t count the hours of sleep you’re missing out on
Ha ha!! That’s hilarious!! Love that his brother gives him heaps for it! My kids would do that too 🙂
EssentiallyJess recently posted..Just Another Over Sharing Mummy Blogger
I can sit here and giggle…but I have been through many broken items over the years….and it sometimes seems that toddler years are lasting WAY longer than they should have!
I have seen all of my boys tear up their art n craft creations, tear up there room, break much loved toys and scream the house down
But hey they must turn out ok because our baby is now over 18 and is holding down a job in the Navy!!
Guess its cause they can’t say want is wrong. We also have to be careful about not letting our boys get too hungry in between meals – that is when all hell can break lose!
Can the door handle be fixed? Or maybe it works better that way?
Lisa Wood recently posted..Munching Monday :: Cameron Cooks Dinner
Oh Grace, I feel your pain, my boys are taking turns at driving me insane recently, hence my lack of blogging etc. It’s just overwhelming at times, they are SUCH hard work. I can’t believe the door, kids can be so strong right? My toddler hasn’t broken something that big in ages, but my youngest just did a HUGE biro scrawl over our couch – not cool. Hang in there, I’m doing it tough with you!
Emily @ Have a laugh on me recently posted..In order to survive as parents we must have no shame and turn a blind eye
Oh groan the child tantrum!!!!! Why is it that we all share about our children all chucking those massive tantrums yet when I am in the supermarket now one else’s kids are screaming and kicking!!! I endure the stares from others laced with disapproval and smile ungratefully at the other perfect children skipping beside their mothers. (Smile) ahhh life you sure can punk us mums sometimes. lol.
Elizabeth recently posted..Why I Love Lipstick
The girl’s have broken my spirit but luckily nothing else. 😉
Mumabulous recently posted..So Near And Yet So Far…
Oh I’ve been thinking about yr lost all day grace when I saw the topic of yr post. It brings it all back especially the day my darling was banging her head on the concrete outside the nsw art gallery because I wldnt buy her some book. It was awful. When I was finally able to get her home, both of us exhausted, I googled mental health issues in toddlers, nothing concrete came back so I just had to put it down to a tantrum. Years later I realized she was probably just really frustrated with this ‘no’ saying mum who only saw her on weekends really due to work … I lived and learnt. Hope yr door handles are ok x
Kim recently posted..Artisan blogging
AAarrrgghh… my comment was lost – blooming internet connections.
The only thing worse than a child having a tantrum is when twins have tantrums in tandem. Bloody awful. Mind you tonight I’ve had teenagers taunting a twin and a terrible todo ensued. Bloody hell!!
Seana – Sydney, Kids, Food + Travel recently posted..Wee Pressies From Scotland For You
Nightmare! The only advice I can give is, if you don’t laugh, you cry. Pity about the door. My daughter gets her revenge by drawing on things. Not fair either!
Robomum recently posted..A couple of bags of lemons
Supernatural tantrum strength! I don’t know how you handle the one tantruming triggering the other – or maybe the one plays the role of naughty child while the other is the angel that they both look like. Apart from my Little Yang’s own antics, his big sister can be so mean and set him off, bit time – and this requirest two totally different approaches – ‘the how do you reason with a toddler’ approach and the the ‘OMG my 9 year old already has attitude’ approach. Pretty sure I haven’t perfected either.
Kathy recently posted..The time of my life
whoa! That’s a whopper of a tanty! Bam Bam can bung it on pretty well, complete with head banging and thrashing. Hasn’t caused too much damage to property yet but give him time 😉
Née recently posted..Anatomy inequity
Oh Grace, I remember those years! But now with a 10 year-old, the challenges are a whole new story!
Hang in there hun xx
Lisa@RandomActsOfZen recently posted..A to Z of ZEN. P is for ……
Oh wow, the little Mr must have really been frustrated that day, I bet you’re just glad that the force needed to kick that off wasn’t aimed at you! We rarely get kicking tantrums but screaming? Lots of it and it drives me just batty.
Kyla @ Three Quarters Full recently posted..Mother’s May
Currently only my sanity. But that is enough.
Sam Stone recently posted..One year ago today
Oh Grace! I don’t know if I can laugh! That’s a huge tantrum!
Rita recently posted..For the love of literature
I have blocked these tantrums out of my memory!! May need hypnosis to recover them 😉
Blurry and vague I do remember both hubby and I walking away from a screaming trashing toddler on the floor of a major shopping centre – not so happy days 😉
Josefa @always Josefa recently posted..Waking Up from My Mummy Fog
I think I have been relatively lucky (and I say that very loosly) to not have had too amny major tantrums! BUT I’m a little too scared to say that out loud with lucky number 3 still yet to get to that beloved age!! EEEK!!!
Knowing the havoc my teeny tiny little A can wreak with her vengeance, I would be a little terrified of your twin tornado! All I can say is, thank goodness for child locks!! 🙂
I’m with Kirri there, surely those angels couldn’t have done it. Are you sure you didn’t do it yourself? 😉 I’ve had my share of tantrums, but no major damage done. Let’s see how it goes from here – third time lucky they say, but in what way?
Tat recently posted..Grateful for first words
Oh my goodness! I shouldn’t laugh at the door handle but I couldn’t help myself, I’m sorry! So often I try to remind myself when Punky is having a meltdown that its only because she has no other idea of how to express her frustration but it doesn’t always keep me calm.
I swear, if you went by Punky’s tantrums I am the world’s meanest mother! Thankfully she hasn’t broken anything while losing it. Yet. I’m sure its just a matter of time though!
Kylez @ A Study in Contradictions recently posted..Quotable Notable
My toddler throws herself on the ground when she is having a tantrum, then she bangs her head on the ground! Last week we were walking through a car park and she refused to hold me hand. She pulled herself to the ground (I was still holding her hand), she screamed, cried then banged her forehead on the ground. Blood promptly appeared. Sigh
Wendy Parks recently posted..In Honour of my Mother
Mine point at my tummy and say, “what happened?” They never apologize though.
Bridget recently posted..WTF Wednesday: Mother’s Day Edition
Oh wow! We’re just getting into the swing of full blown tantrums here!
Kaz @ Melting Moments recently posted..Gardening: Mummy Style
My current 4yo has never managed to break anything, but he does like to push things off of tables and to hit me. The other two boys were similar.
The really destructive one was my daughter. When it came to tantrums, she would mostly footstomp and pout and lay on the floor and scream, but man, leave that kid alone for any length of time and she would have the wallpaper peeled from the wall, her dolls dismantled into piles of heads and arms, and Lego scattered like landmines across the DMZ. But then she’d have a tantrum because her toys were broken!
Jennifer recently posted..Golden Corral Lawsuit in Michigan Settles
Oh my gosh, this is hilarious!!!
Wow!! Kicking the door handle off?? That’s an impressive tantrum!
Carla recently posted..Five things I hate about…
Ahh kiddos and tanties. I’m sorry it doesn’t get any easier either. We had a 16 yo throwing one last night…too many assignments. Go figure. :/ hugs to you! xx
carmen recently posted..How to be bold and vibrant…
Wow, I’d just been complaining about Miss Sugarpuff and her tanty throwing ways but she’s yet to do that kind of damage. She’s more the draw over the walls than break the car type… touch wood. Big hugs to you.
Aleney recently posted..Churros, Chocolate y Cinco de Mayo
Heh heh heh, you know that is kind of legendary 🙂 My kids haven’t broken anything in anger, but they have ruined our floorboards, walls and rugs with permanent markers fulfilling their artistic tendencies.
Rachel @ The Kids Are All Right recently posted..Craptacular Mother’s Day gifts we have known
Oh my lord, is this a peek into what’s to come? My 15 month old is already spectacularly talented at throwing a tanty (he’s just learnt the ‘head down on the floor, weeping into the floorboards’ move) and I am DREADING what till happen as he gets older, stronger and more wily. Your poor door handle!
Oh dear Grace I hear you – my boys are 7 and 9 and there are still tantrums – major ones like this afternoon, younger son almost tore the Mother’s Day card he made me at school because his older brother was teasing him. Arghhhh… it never ends….
Happy Mother’s Day – hope you get spoilt 🙂
Sabeen recently posted..Lemon Mint Cucumber {The Delicious Detox}
Sorry, can’t get past the foot rub. That would just not be an option in this house. How did they even know foot rubs existed. That is so funny, of all the things. Still giggling 🙂
Becc @ Take Charge Now
Becc recently posted..Every last morsel
I couldn’t help but read this title (Darn good one to lure me in!) and well, I giggled and then I almost cried. I’m having toddler tanties too and I’m OVER it! Like you, cold turkey it is but yes, I think it causes a whole lot of damage! The girls haven’t been quite as damaging as your K-bear tch tch tch… but you have to forgive him, he’s so darn cute!
Penny recently posted..Keeping Garden Snails as Pets
Tantrums…ah, those were the days. Of course, they never stop having them – but it’s far less cuter when they’re bigger.
Nami recently posted..Here She Is