Gimmee, Gimmee,Gimmee…
When you are in the checkout line at the grocery store and your child asks for something, such as candy, how do they react if you say “No”?
I must be honest, and say that I have had every reaction from “OK Mommy”, to having to pick a tantrum throwing child up off the floor.
Once my child has thrown a tantrum though, they usually won’t do it again. I have been known to leave a store, take the child home, and go back for my groceries- a pain, but it works. If I had more than one child with me when the tantrum happened, I either bring the others back with me and buy them a candy, or bring candy home with me for all of them, except the one who threw the tantrum.
It may sound mean, but it is effective.
In my earlier parenting years, (20 years ago), I would have felt flustered and embarassed- now I would feel like it is a normal thing to deal with. My kids have broke me in I guess. In my earlier years, I would also have given in to the demands of the child, just to shut them up. Now I wouldn’t.
It is amazing how we are told to train our children up, but it also works the other way around. We learn from our mistakes, so in a large family, the kids that come later have it easier in some ways (I am not as strict in some areas), and harder in other ways (I know the tricks of manipulation they can try). So I guess in some ways they have trained me up.
As a parent, the gimmees don’t have as much power over me as they once did. (At least I like to think they don’t).
If you want a good laugh on how to apply children’s tantrum throwing techniques, watch this (funny):
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