

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The Toddler from H-E- Double Hockey Sticks

My son...


He has been going through a loooooooooong phase- we are talking like 8 months or so long- where he cries over EVERYTHING.  You tell him no, he cries.  You tell him it's dinner time, he cries.   You ask him to put his shoes on, he cries.  Well, I've gotten to the point where the crying doesn't bother me.  First I tried putting him in time out because we all knew it was crocodile tears.  Then I tried sending him to his room until he was done crying.  I didn't get mad, I would calmly tell him to go into his room and he could come out when he was done crying.  So, of course this resulted in him coming out two seconds later because he had turned off the waterworks just as easily as he turned them on.

Figuring that it is a phase, I have just kind of accepted it and try to ignore it because I know that he is trying to get attention.

Well, instead of letting that phase die out, he has decided to escalate it- to ear piercing screams.  He intertwines these screams with his usual crying, but throws some even louder sobs in.  And of course, it's still over the same little things.  He smacks his sister in the face, he gets caught, he cries (and screams).  He gets caught jumping on the couch... you get the picture.  So, to his room he goes where he has now decided to start kicking the walls and throwing things during his tantrums.  As much as I would like to go in and knock his block off, I just ignore it.  I know he is trying to get attention out of it, but I refuse to give in.  And believe me, it is HARD.  He is a mama's boy, so when he has legitimate reasons to cry, it breaks my heart... but when he throws these crying/screaming tantrums, I just think, "what am I doing wrong?"  Where have I gone wrong in my parenting that he has decided to take this route when he's upset.  My daughter never went through this phase. 

I'm at my wits end... do I invest in earplugs or try to take him back to WalMart... any advice??


  1. As a mother my self to 2 beautiful children I have my moments too, what parent doesn't. Now I can't say that I have gone through this at all and Im sure I might someday. But when mine throw fits I send them to their rooms cause I decline to spank them. They stay in there for awhile before coming back out sometimes they even fall asleep. But I do have to say how will taking him to Walmart help with anything your trying to fix. I personally would just keep ignoring it, he'll eventaully see that your not going to give him the attention he is demanding from the fits he having. I would ignore as long as possible. He will soon see mommy isn't going to to give into him. And what does that end up doing in the long its just show children they can behave badly and still have mommy or daddy wrapped around their little fingers. Hope this helps a little.

  2. If you took your advice from your post about always getting a receipt he should be easily returned to Wal-Mart.