Yesterday was a Day of Tantrums.
It didn’t start out that way. Baguette woke up happy, because we were all there. Mr. Sandwich, who normally leaves at 6:00, was home to take care of some car repairs. I was about to get up; my alarm went off about two minutes after Baguette woke. There were snuggles and giggles and more snuggles.
She did not want to get up and go in the living room with me; she wanted to stay and snuggle. But eventually I needed her to get up, and managed to relocate her. Getting her dressed, on the other hand, was a different matter.
First, she didn’t want to take off her pajamas. Putting on pants wasn’t a problem, but she raged against the first two shirts I offered her, throwing them across the room. All of this was accompanied by screams.
She screamed at me when I changed clothes, retrieving my pajamas in an attempt to put them back on me.
And then, once we got to her school, she ran up to sit next to a little boy and play with the toys he had out.
Back home, she wanted Play-Doh–as she always does, these days–but she screamed rather than say “please,” and then she screamed instead of saying “sorry.” So the Play-Doh went away.
Later, she found another container of Play-Doh. Rolling it flat led to screaming. Packing it into a ball, or returning it to the container? More screaming. I handed her a wooden block in the shape of a cylinder so she could roll it out herself. She screamed as she rolled, tears streaming down her face.
She couldn’t tell her what was making her so angry and upset, no matter how we asked. Instead, she just screamed. So that Play-Doh went away.
Finally, dinner calmed her down. And you’d think all that screaming would wear a tiny body out, but no. She was up until nearly 10.
Although on the plus side, she slept the whole night through. Can we call that a win? I’m having trouble answering that question.
Photo by Photos by Mavis, via Flickr. Creative Commons.
Ah, I feel your pain….you never have any warning of “one of those days” – they just seem to come out of no where. I say that sleeping through the night any time is a total win!
Meanwhile, she did really, really well at day care! So maybe she used up all her patience there.
oh no (HUGS) I’ve been there, she was just having a bad day. It’s tough when they can’t express that it’s just not a good day. Sometimes I want to run and hide when Dino is like that.
Oh, I think you’re absolutely right–I think she gets to the end of the day and has a lot of input to process and needs to scream a little. And purple Play-Doh is what she wants to scream at right now. That happened again last night, and I just went into the kitchen to wash dishes and let her scream. After a minute or two, she got it all out and played with the Play-Doh like she usually does.
I dunno…I kinda want to scream a little at the end of the day, too, sometimes. 🙂 I completely feel your pain – we have fewer tantrums than a year or two ago, but they still rage on when circumstances are just right. I definitely think Debra’s theory is right-on. Kidzilla often holds it together at preschool, but flips out over what seems like nothing at home.
My guess is that right around the time we all figure it out, we’ll hit the tween years.
There is hope — you’re in the midst of the hurricane now, but in a few years you’ll hit the magical eye where all the winds and rain stop. (Of course, a few years after that the winds start blowing the other direction as you hit the other side of the hurricane in the teen years.) Still, the years in the eye are glorious.
I’d say I’m looking forward to that, but the truth is that I enjoy her so much at each stage that I don’t look forward to the next. I don’t really miss what has passed, either–it was (on balance) great while it lasted, and where she is now is (on balance) great while it lasts.
Further evidence that we have the same child. Oy. Clothing (hers and mine) are massive tantrum triggers for my kid. About 80 percent of the time there is a tantrum when we move from PJs to clothing or vice versa. I mean, I could understand if it was pj tantruming exclusively (I mean, we all know how my kid feels about sleep) but both ways??? huh??? Toddler logic.
More observation seems to support my theory that Baguette’s shrieking is largely a tension/frustration release for her, particularly on days with lots of input. Of course, it’s also sometimes the noise she makes when she’s happy, which does not have the same effect on us.