How many times have you been at the grocery store and you see a child throw himself on the floor in a fit? Of course, the parent tries to deal with it to spare themselves the embarrassment. Has this ever been you? Today I wanted to tackle the topic of Tantrums! Nobody wants to deal with them and it’s not fun for anyone. However, there is help available!! Please read below for some quick tips to think about and try at home, the store, or wherever the tantrums may occur.
7 Helpful Tips for Tackling Temper Tantrums
1. Don’t “pick up the rope”. If your kids are in a funk, they want to drag you into it too, because they don’t know how to handle their emotions. It’s just like tug of war, but it can’t be a fight back and forth if you refuse to “pick up the rope”. Resist the temptation to allow yourself to escalate, yell or lose your temper.
2. Be firm with why their tantrum must stop or the reason they received a consequence.
3. Avoid reasoning with them. It doesn’t work as they are not thinking clearly.
4. Avoid arguing with them and simply disengage. It’s okay to walk away as long as they are not hurting themselves or destroying anything valuable to you. If they are breaking their own toy, that’s a consequence they have to live with.
5. Remove the audience. Sometimes their tantrum is simply a performance to get what they want or frustration over some issue. They want you to react and to give them attention. The more attention people give them, the more tantrums they will perform.
6. Be confident in the reasonable consequence you give them.
7. Be realistic and follow through. Threatening to remove privileges for a year is not realistic. Decide on a clear consequence that you will follow through on and DO NOT CAVE IN!
Hope some of these tips help! If you’re dealing with this, don’t worry, you’re not alone! Just remember, change takes time. Don’t expect overnight success, just stand strong and be consistent.
