Olivia is such a great little girl. She is so full of life, entertaining, funny, smart and sweet, but she is also incredibly strong willed, independent and stubborn too. She is the boss! This has already had its challenges, even at the ripe old age of fourteen months. When it comes to tantrums, we have had a few. I try my best to ignore them on our paediatricians advice. Although this can be easier said than done at times. It also seems like I am missing out on a teaching opportunity if I simply try and ignore her.
Try as I might to teach Olivia with words, to calm down and 'talk' me through what she needs, the tantrums only escalated. Our worst incident involved her pulling my hair and scratching me and I was shocked. How has my child learnt to do this? It is instinct I guess. She is unhappy, so she is showing me, because she doesn't have the words, just how unhappy she is. I managed to ignore her behaviour on this particular incident, and I got up and walked away from her. She cried hard for a minute or two and then I went back over and distracted her with something else. She has never behaved like that since. Now that could be a fluke, but my gut tells me that ignoring her bad behaviour and showing her how upset I was, definitely is the right way to handle my child, though I know every child is different.
Parenting has it ups and downs, and sometimes it is just plain exhausting. But these moments are really just a drop in the bucket when compared with all the happier ones. Although they may not feel like it at the time!
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