We all know that there are numerous reasons for “misbehaviour” in toddlers, yet a lot of the time for us as parents it is surprisingly easy to only see the behaviour without regard for what brought it about. – Jan Hunt, ‘the natural child’ –
This sentence brings me to the end of this past week, miss 3 was tantrumming relentlessly nothing I did or said would settle her. My husband & I sat down that night & I admittedly was drained, teary & exhausted, clueless as to why she was so intense suddenly. She’s been in preschool these past 4wks three days a week an increase in 1 day leading up to school next year,of course she’s beyond exhausted and the only way she can express that is when she’s right on the brink of losing her self control, but there is NO control she’s exhausted! Our solution? Let’s drop down to 2 days a week & increase it at the end of the year when emotionally she may be able to handle her exhaustion a little better. Secretly, I’m thrilled to have her home more!
When a child has a tantrum, we may feel sorry for ourselves & puzzled about the causes, especially if we have met the child’s needs in the past. We may wonder if we were wrong in trusting our child,to grow without punishment. At these times it can be helpful to stop thinking about why our child’s behaving in this way & focus instead on the present moment,what has happened that day? That hour? – Jan Hunt, ‘the natural child’ –
