Wednesday, December 24, 2008

What are the "terrible twos" going to be like?

I don't know if it's because Kylie's gums are swollen because of teething, or if it's because now that she's reached the magical age of twelve months old, she thinks that she is a toddler and no longer a baby, but regardless of the reason, the tantrums have started. Oh no! This is way too soon. She threw one tantrum when she was eleven months old and threw paper all over the floor in her rage, but that was a very isolated incident. It didn't happen again until yesterday, and they were very numerous. I feel bad for her because I know she is in a lot of pain from teething, I can feel at least one new tooth and her gums are very swollen. She also developed a diaper rash from all that extra saliva and mucous, so I know she isn't feeling very well. But I still can't let her start using temper tantrums as a way to cope.

It's funny to watch your one year old throw herself down in the floor in her anger. Where did she learn this? She's never seen anyone else throw themselves down and throw a fit. The reasons she was getting mad are a little ridiculous too. The funniest one I found involved her big "house" toy. The mailbox will sing the alphabet song when you close it and reopen it. Kylie loves the alphabet song. So she will sit there and open and close her mailbox and "sing along" the whole time. However, she didn't quite close it all the way once. Therefore it didn't sing the song when she reopened it. She proceeded to bang on the mailbox, stand up, run behind the recliner and throw herself on the floor screaming the whole time. What a drama queen.

When I say funny, I promise I'm not laughing at her. I am not doing anything to encourage this kind of behavior. However I am trying to find the humor in this situation and brace myself for the toddler years that lie before me. There is humor to be found, because the things a twelve month old finds devastating are quite odd.

Here's something funny regarding tantrums: My mom told me that my sister Rachel used to walk over to a carpeted area before she threw herself on the ground to throw her tantrums.

Oh and so far today, there have been no signs of a tantrum. I'm hoping yesterday was a fluke.

2 comments:

  1. Get ready! The tantrums only get worse the older they get. Addie throws some pretty horrible fits no matter what I do to try to modify her behavior. Its a bit ridiculous. But apparently all "age appropriate" according to my mom---somehow, that just doesn't make it any easier to deal with....Luckily they are few and far between....but again, doesn't make me feel any better about it! LOL
    Good luck!

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  2. I'm not looking forward to the temper tantrum stage. My niece is a super sweet little girl and I love her to death but even she started having temper tantrums when she was a year old. I'm not looking forward to them starting for Parker.

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