I’ve talked before about the importance of encouraging our children to discuss feelings.
I’ve made some very simple felt pieces to attach to circular faces which have been stuck to the fridge. Our little ones can have fun rearranging the the facial features into different emotions. This is an effective way for children to learn about self expression, reading the body language of others, and having empathy for others.
This is a language rich activity to also help children discuss colours, label facial features, but most of all, to give words to their feelings and become familiar with using them.
It’s handy to have little circles of felt for this purpose, especially for those times when a big felt board is not handy. I think it’d also look great on a child’s bedroom wall.
Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.
- Ancient proverb
Following on from my recent post about initiative, I involved Mr 4 and Missy 2 in washing some clothes. I had lots of laundry to catch up on and hang out to dry. So I set up a plastic tub with warm water and Ecostore laundry powder (nice and gentle for little hands) and some laundry that had minimal soiling. Being a water activity, of course it’s important to always supervise young children.
Doing household chores together is a great learning opportunity for kids. They learnt/talked about:
- the different names of clothing: ‘what type of clothing is this?’ Eg, shirt, dress, undies, etc.
- the concept of people having a place in the family, and their own possessions: ‘who’s shirt is this?’
- colours: ‘what colour is this shirt?’
- cause and effect: ‘why is the water becoming so brown?’
- the sequence of events: first the children used soapy water, then scrubbed the clothing, then we rinsed with clear water, squeezed the excess liquid out and finally we hung them out to dry.
- how to play together. Missy 2 and Mr 4 had a few disagreements during this activity. This gave us a chance to talk about their feelings and listen to each other.
- sensory awareness: children can learn about concepts such as wet/dry, warm/cold, etc.
The children also got a huge amount of exercise for their little muscles! Picking up wet clothing can be heavy work…
It also puts their fine motor skills through their paces as they squeeze… squeeeze… squeeeeeeeeze! the water out of the clothes.
You can also let them help with pegging the clothes out to dry on a small, child-height clothesline. I didn’t, only because we had two puppies with very dirty feet hanging around! But at least this kept my kids busy whilst I hung out all the wet clothes.
What household chores do your children like to help with?
It’s getting to be warmer weather here, thankfully now, our yard has dried up somewhat after all our flooding. We couldn’t let the kids play out in the backyard due to sewerage all over the place. Ewww… That’s why you’ve been seeing so many activities being done out the front instead.
Mr 4 had seen an ad for a totem tennis set on tv and begged us to get it. We told him we would one day, but he’d have to wait. Then my fiance, when out shopping, found it and decided to surprise him.
Totem tennis is great for school-aged children and preschool aged kids. It’s a pity Missy 10 was at school this time, or I could’ve shown you all the funny faces she pulls when she’s concentrating!
Totem tennis is an excellent gross motor activity, and also encourages eye-hand co-ordination (this is really important to us, considering that all of our children have problems with this due to their eyesight). Totem tennis encourages social play: taking turns, sharing, and showing consideration for one another by trying not to hit each other with the ball.
It’s fantastic for those times when one of the kids is feeling angry, as we can redirect that anger into the racket and ball, rather than on each other. I’d rather my kids smash the bejesus out of a ball than scream at or hit someone else.
I must also say, that our kids love watching Mum and Dad having a whack at totem tennis together! We make quite a spectacle, what with our grunting and groaning… Lots of fun for all involved.
When was the last time you played totem tennis?
I was outside picking more lavender for drying, only to discover that the daisies growing next to the lavender were growing out of control. It seemed such a waste to just leave them there, so I picked lots of daisies and brought them inside to put in vases, and do some fun things with the kids.
Missy 10 was keen to try my idea of giving the daisies a coloured water ‘drink’. We recycled the water from the spray paint we made, as you can see in the photo above.
Missy 2 saw the goings-on, and wanted to imitate what we were doing. So, I found a disposable plastic cup from Missy 10′s birthday party and taped it to the table. I then gave her a glut of daisies to put into the cup, then take them out, then put them in. Much like posting. She was in heaven and this kept her busy for at least an hour.
She had a ball walking around with her bouquet and showing everybody in the house what she’d been doing.
Once the novelty of that wore off, I made some daisy chains for her to wear on her head. Weekend play at its best.
This is how Missy 10′s daisies look now:
If the colour gets any deeper, I’ll show how they turn out.
It’s been beautiful Spring weather here lately. Mr 4 and I ventured outside to pick loads of lavender that has popped out all over the place. We also set about untying and pulling the petals off the dried lavender that has been hanging all this time.
Mr 4 and I compared two very different flowers: a dried lavender flower, and a fresh one. We talked about the differences in colour, texture and smell. He had a ball hanging out in the old shop, having a nice old poke around.
First we sorted through our big wicker basket chock-ful of flowers. Mr 4 and I had to turn them all around so that each bud was facing the same way, then tie them in bunches and lastly, hang them up to dry. I told him about how the air circulates all through the leaves, petals and stems, helping to dry out the flowers so we can preserve them for later use.
It certainly kept him very busy! ‘This is hard work, Mum!’ he kept telling me.
But there was more to do… It was then time to un-tie the dried lavender that Missy 9 had helped me with, and crumble the petals away from the stalks to be stored.
You should have smelt that shop! Oh my…
We’ve also been having some adorable visitors that have been keeping the children amused…
Meet Little Frog. If you remember me telling you briefly about our flooding situation, then I don’t need to explain to you why the carpet has been ripped out and you’re staring at the concrete floor of our currently defunct playroom. It seems Little Frog has made himself right at home amid all the damp.
And have you met Big Toad?
This picture really doesn’t do this beautiful creature justice. Blame it on the neurotic woman behind the camera! This overblown toad was found outside whilst I was outside at the bins. I rushed inside to find a container and a cloth to put over the top.
Big Toad was much heavier than I anticipated, and lurched all around in this temporary home. I was not game to take more than a bird’s eye shot. But I will say this toad is much, much bigger than it looks in this photo. Its tummy was so chubby, it nearly didn’t fit into my container! We all enjoyed looking at its colourful stripes and it’s bubbly neck. Then, of course I let it go. I think it was a very pregnant girl frog…
I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many toads as I have since moving here. And certainly none so colourful! Does anyone know what type of toad it is?
Sometimes, when my fiance goes out shopping or anywhere else, he likes to take one or two of our kids with him and leave me behind with just one child. At these times, I make the most of some rare one-on-one time with the child who stays with me.
Today, Mr 4 stayed at home with me, and we had lots of snuggles. Then, he turned around and asked me to take photos of him. Like many mums, I like to take the child’s lead with their play whenever I can. So, I grabbed the camera, and he, being a little bit precious about the whole thing, moved a chair in front of the fridge, because he felt that was where he wanted to pose.
And so we snapped up one picture after another. He tried to make each face a little bit more ridiculous than the last, and checked how he looked on the digital camera’s display screen. It’s weird, he’s the only boy living with two sisters, and yet he’s the most vain of the three kids!
The great thing about this game was that Mr 4 was given the opportunity to be creative and also engage in some dramatic play with the only prop being a camera. I think it is also a nice thing to do for a child’s self esteem, as they enjoy having the undivided attention of a parent, and being able to make mummy laugh. I know he felt really good about himself after playing this game. He also enjoyed the process of looking at the photos on the computer, and he’s learning a little bit about technology along the way.
My favourite part of the whole experience? The laughter. He thought he was brilliant, and we were both in hysterics.
This is the last installment in my tantrum series.
Last time I wrote about tantrums, I touched on public tantrums and just how stressful and difficult they can be for a parent or carer to deal with. I talked about how busy the adult is, possibly already stressed by the errands they are running, then the child who is tantrumming, which is finally rounded off with an unhealthy dose of public interference.
This post is for anyone who’s ever judged another parent or carer of a child who had a public tantrum. Or worse, criticised or undermined a parent/carer’s best efforts at dealing with the tantrum. I write this in the hope that a parent/caregiver/child is treated better by a stranger as a result.
Dear stranger, please respect how we manage our child/rens’ behaviour.
Nobody will ever agree 100% with another parent/carer’s approach to behaviour management, but as long as the child is not being abused or put in danger, please respect that we may do it differently to how you would, and that is our right. To publicly criticise us, especially in front of our child, undermines our authority as parents, and then if they end up in juvey at 13, you will no doubt blame us, the abovementioned parents because our children ended up having no respect for us.
To throw another method/technique/idea into the works would be confusing to the child anyway.
Do not interrupt an adult dealing with a child having a tantrum
Do not talk over the parent. Do not say within the child’s earshot, ‘oh, that’s alright, he can have it!’ If the parent has said no, that needs to be respected. Do not confuse the child.
Do not stare/tut/shake your head at parent or child.
Both already feel embarrassed, stressed and frustrated. One day this could be you. Or maybe years ago, it was you, and you’ve conveniently forgotten this fine detail.
Can you do something to help?
Years ago, when my first child was two, I was trying to walk home with her, carrying far too many plastic bags of shopping. My daughter was refusing to walk, and was trying to wrestle her way to the ground and run to the road. I was trying to carry her home quickly, and juggle her and the bags. It was quite the spectacle.
Next thing I knew, a lady around my age came outside, and my guard instantly went up. Oh my god, I thought. She thinks I’m beating up my child. Or she’s going to tell me I should be. Instead, she asked me how far away I lived, and if I would like her to carry my bags so I could carry my daughter home more easily. Of course, I didn’t want to put her out, but she reassured me I wasn’t, so I said yes.
As we walked home together, she asked how old my daughter was. On telling her, she replied that she had a little girl at home the same age who would love to play with her! We exchanged numbers, and our two little ones ended up having quite a few playdates.
Most of the time, a parent or carer wants to be left to get on with the job of dealing with their child without interference. What if there were more people in this world like this lady, who offered to help with some other part of your errand and left you to deal with your child unhindered? To offer to unpack your trolley onto the conveyor belt as you managed your child’s behaviour? Wouldn’t the world be a much better place if more people did this, rather than stand and gawk or criticise?
What do you wish others would do when your child has a public tantrum? And by the same token, what could you do for another parent in this situation, without undermining that parents’ methods?
So, we’ve talked about what causes tantrums, ways we can prevent them and how to build up our childrens’ communication skills to help get through the tantrum stage more smoothly. But what about if you have implemented all of these strategies and your child still has a tantrum anyway?
Relax. Remember, it’s a normal part of a child’s development, and it’s nothing you’ve done wrong. It can take time for a child to learn to accept that not everything will happen they way they want it to in life, all the time. I have focused more in this series on understanding the motives behind tantrums and preventative measures, because I believe that it’s all the work we put in here that pays dividends.
I’ve yet to meet two parents who’ve ever agreed 100% on the best ways to raise children. Most parents and carers have varied yet passionate opinions on how to deal with a child who is throwing a tantrum. I’m going to reiterate that these ideas are only my approach, and I enjoy open discussion on the wide variety of ways other parents deal with it. Don’t be afraid to be creative in your approach, try your own ideas. You know your child better than anyone else in the world. As always, let’s respect each others’ differences and let everyone have the freedom to have the floor with their opinions.
With that little disclaimer out of the way, I’m going to focus on the tantrums where a child doesn’t get something they desperately want. I have a few ‘constants’ that do not change, regardless of the childs’ age:
I don’t say no, then say yes after the tantrum.
Your child wants an ice cream. For whatever reasons, you’ve said no. Child screams, maybe even throws themselves on the floor. This is stressful for parents and carers. Often it seems easier and so tempting to just say, ‘oh, alright then, you can have the ice cream!’ If you do this, I guarantee that the tantrum will stop instantly. I also guarantee that your child will throw more tantrums in the near future and will probably take longer to move out of this tantrum stage of their lives.
What happens when a child is given in to like this, is that the child is rewarded for expressing their wants in an inappropriate way. No, we don’t expect perfect behaviour from a one year old, or a three year old. It’s normal for them to try to see what will work for them. But it’s up to us to teach them better ways to express this. When we teach our children that screaming for what we want doesn’t achieve the desired result, over time they become capable of finding other ways to ask for things, also to accept that sometimes it’s no.
What would happen if we applied for a job and didn’t get it? Asked a potential love interest out on a date and were rejected? Would kicking and screaming help the situation? No. Does this mean that we expect our children to behave like adults at all times? No. We expect our children to try inappropriate behaviour, and then we repetitively teach them what the actual expectation will be of them in the real world. We spend this time preparing them.
So if it’s no when my child first asks, then it’s no after they’ve had a tantrum too.
Ignore the tantrum.
Now, I don’t want people to say, ‘but what if they’re hungry/tired? They’re upset because they need something!’ Yes, I agree. In those cases, if that is the cause, as I’ve already covered in previous topics, you deal with it. But today I’m talking about dealing with tantrums where a child does not like hearing the word, ‘no’.
I find that a child tantrumming over not getting what they wanted is much like dealing with someone who is ranting when they’re drunk. You can’t reason with them during the rant. I personally choose not to reward the behaviour with attention. Once they have calmed down, then I will talk to them about the situation. I am a strong believer in letting a child have their thoughts sometimes. Giving them time to themselves to reflect on what they are doing. Thinking about if it’s even working. I remember back all the way to two years of age in my childhood. I remember throwing tantrums. One of the most loving things my parents did for me was to leave me alone with my head, and let me make sense of it. If I am concerned that my child is in danger or putting others in danger, then I move them somewhere safe and leave them to it.
Create a diversion.
I’ve added this idea more for the very young tantrummers, say between the ages 1-2 years old. Because their attention span can be shorter, often we can redirect the behaviour towards another activity or interest. A child may be ready to scream for that ice cream, but if we can say, ‘look Gretel, there’s a fire truck! It’s big and it’s red and let’s go play with it/look at it!’ sometimes the child will forget all about it.
Some may consider this rewarding the behaviour. I disagree. They’ve forgotten their tantrum, and they didn’t get the ice cream, did they?
This week I’ve been talking a lot about tantrums. We’ve talked about the ‘why‘, the triggers and today I’m talking about how we can use language to help our child and ourselves.
I’ve mentioned before the frustration a child feels when they lack the ability to put their wants and feelings into words. So my best tip in tantrum prevention, and getting through the tantrum phase more quickly and easily is expanding on a child’s communication skills.
Give your child a vocabulary for emotions.
If children can put a word to different feelings, or know what they mean, it becomes a way of communicating what they are feeling. My three year old son has been taught to differentiate common feelings: happy, sad, angry. We also have taught him the meaning of the feeling, ‘frustration’ and ‘disappointment’. These are two feelings that are very common causes of tantrums, and very hard emotions for kids to put into words, unless we use them often. We did this with Missy 9 when she was in the tantrum stage, also. Often, my son will use these words to describe how he’s feeling, and when he’s too upset to tell us, we can ask him (‘are you upset, angry, frustrated?’) and he will nod or shake his head at the word he is feeling. Usually, once we’ve nailed how he’s feeling, we find he can’t help but start talking about what is bothering him.
Some ways we can teach kids to understand different feelings:
- through pretend play. You, or your child/ren can act out different feelings. Make it fun. Kids love watching mums and dads pretending to cry. Little sadists, they are… You can pretend with toys, puppets, whatever you like.
- through songs. Try, ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ or, ‘how do you feel today?’
- via stories. When you’re reading a story with your child, stop to look at the pictures. Ask your child how they think the character is feeling. If it’s a feeling that is sad, angry, etc you can ask the child, ‘what do you think would make him happy again?’
- when watching tv shows. You can ask the same sorts of questions as you would when reading a story.
- encourage them to observe other people, such as their brothers or sisters and think about how they are feeling. This has the side benefit of encouraging compassion for others as well.
- give names to the feelings when they come over the child. I’ve mentioned before that when any of my children are frustrated, particularly when little, I will say, ‘you’re frustrated, aren’t you?’ or, ‘I can see how angry/upset you are’.
- through art. When your child is drawing or painting, or creating something, you can sometimes bring discussion about feelings into it. If your child is drawing a person or an animal, you can ask your child how the person in the drawing is feeling, and what made them feel that way. You can ask what would make the animal happy.
- when you’re listening to music, talk about whether it sounds like a sad song, a happy song, an angry song, etc.
Help your child to widen their vocabulary in general.
The more language skills a child has, the less they will tantrum.
- Talk to your child often, talk about what they are doing, what you are doing, describe how you are walking up the steps together, or washing your tummy in the bath, describe anything that occurs in your day.
- Tell your child the names of objects, and praise them when they try to say them. An important one was for us to teach our daughter the word, ‘cup’. Once she could attempt to say that word, we managed to remove that tantrum trigger, because we could make out what she was trying to say. In turn, she learnt that saying words was a more likely way to meet her needs and wants than screaming or grunting, and led to her wanting to try other words, too.
- Read with your child often. We all know this is an obvious way to develop a child’s language skills, but it’s still important to mention it here.
Role model language when you are angry/upset/frustrated.
We can teach our children that us adults get upset, frustrated and angry too. If children can see us showing appropriate ways of expressing those feelings, it makes it so much easier for them to see what we expect them to do when it’s their turn. Think about what you do or say when you are angry. Do you yell and scream? Do you slam things on the table?
Hey, we’re all human, and we all sometimes react in a way we wished we hadn’t. I’m not just talking about with our children, I’m talking about with life in general. This isn’t intended to judge anyone, or criticise at all. But I know in myself, my moods and my temper can easily get the better of me at times, and it’s important to keep it or get it in check, because I have three pairs of eyes watching how I handle it. Learning about the ‘done thing’ by adults, so to speak.
Here’s the list of what I like to aim for in terms of role modelling these feelings in front of children:
- I try to tell my kids how I’m feeling. I don’t always go into why I’m upset or angry, because sometimes they are for adult reasons, and not my childrens’ burden to bear. But if they can handle the reason I’m feeling a certain way, I aim to tell them. Examples are:
‘I’m just really angry because the cat scratched my leg and it hurts a lot.’
‘I’m frustrated because I’ve been trying to open this jar and it’s stuck!’
‘I’m disappointed, because I wanted vegemite on toast, but now the jar’s empty’
- I try to tell the kids what I think I might do about it.
‘I think I need to sit down for a minute until I calm down, and my leg stops hurting’
‘Maybe I’ll ask Daddy if he can help me to open this jar.’
‘Oh well, I might have cereal for breakfast instead’.
I have deliberately used the words, ‘aim for’ and ‘try to’ when making up this list. The reason being, is that I’m human and I fall short often. Most people do, it’s human nature. The good news is, we can teach our kids through role modelling, what not to do as well!
Kids sometimes get really scared of their tantrums, because they know they are out of control, and it’s not a nice feeling for them. They might think it makes them ‘bad’, or think we won’t love them as much because they weren’t completely perfect. What if they could see adults making errors in their judgement, losing control? (Within reason, of course) Won’t that make them feel that they’re not so bad when it happens to them? I think so!
Sometimes, like a lot of parents, I’ve yelled when I know I shouldn’t have at people, including my kids. I think it can help a lot to apologise to our kids if they see us go over the top. An example:
‘I’m sorry I was silly before. I shouldn’t have yelled like that. I think I should’ve just walked away to calm down.’
If any of you have ever seen your child copy the way you do something, be it a phrase you often use, or facial mannerisms, you’ll know just how powerful your example is to your children. Good or bad. I find my two older kids often come back to me later after they’ve overreacted to something, and really surprised me with a heartfelt apology, and an explanation why they lost control. An example could be Missy 9: ‘I’m sorry I was rude at the shops. I really wanted that magazine, and when you said no, I still really wanted it. I promise I’ll try not to nag you next time’.
When this genuine sort of apology is given to me, I like to thank them, and let them know we all make mistakes, and the main thing is to learn from them so next time we can try to do things differently.
I hope you come back to read my next post about public tantrums. I know this is the type most of us struggle with! I’m also going to talk about what we can do if you’ve avoided the triggers, you’ve done everything you can to avoid tantrums, and your child still has a tantrum anyway. Kelly from Be a Fun Mum has aptly suggested I call it, ‘Parents Eat Humble Pie’. I must say, it has its merits!
So far, I’ve been talking about tantrums and the different types there are. Today I want to get readers thinking in terms of triggers. Sometimes, when our child first starts a new sort of tantrum, we can be mystified as to what made them so frustrated and upset. Often in the heat of the moment, it can seem like they are having tantrums for no apparent reason. When we become aware that certain events can trigger tantrums, and begin to observe what else is going on at the time, we can work on tantrum prevention, or minimising the extent of the tantrum.
Squiggle Mum shared with us her tantrum tracker which can help a parent or carer to remember triggers, or to watch for a pattern, or a commonality in tantrums, thank you Squiggle Mum!
This list is not extensive, but you may be able to relate some of them to your child’s tantrums. If not, it’ll give you a good idea of what sorts of things to look out for. When looking for triggers, my suggestion is to start when you have a full day to just observe your child in their day to day routine. Obviously, you still have other things you have to do at the same time! But here’s a good list of common tantrum triggers:
- As mentioned before, frustration at lack of language. I find with my children, it’s usually been because they’ve wanted the same item repeatedly, so I use one word to describe what they want, eg, ‘cup’. When they start grunting, pointing and reaching madly, that’s when I ask, ‘cup? Do you want your cup?’ If they relax and look happy, then you’ve got it! Eventually, they will make an attempt to say the word, even if they don’t say properly, you’ll know that’s their word. Often, a child might come up with a hand action that relates to that item they often want. If you can keep aware of these subtle movements, then it can become a way for your child to communicate with you. Many parents also like to teach their children simple sign language actions to help their child through this stage.
- Tiredness. Does your child often start throwing tantrums a little before bedtime or naptime? Or have they had a busy day and are tired just because? I have sometimes moved my childrens’ naptimes forward by about half an hour, just so that they don’t have to get to that stage. If they are no longer napping, sometimes just some time with a story or other quiet play can help to diffuse a tantrum triggered by tiredness.
- Hunger. Little ones can get grouchy sometimes if they are hungry. Do they often have a tantrum right before lunch? Or dinner? This has been the case with all of my kids at some stage when they’ve been very young, and like the tiredness trigger, moving the eating routine forward just a tiny bit can help to quell prospective tantrums in the future.
- Trying to learn a new skill. Often, when a child takes on a new challenge, such as trying to put a puzzle together, dress themselves, or anything that is important to them to master, at first, they can’t do it. The bottom line is, for a little kid, they just want to do it, and when they can’t, it sucks. An offer of help from a well-meaning parent or sibling can compound the problem, because they don’t want someone else to do it for them, they want to do it themselves.
I tend to say to my children in this situation, ‘you’re frustrated, aren’t you? You want to put those socks on’. I find doing this first allows the child to feel that someone at least understands their dilemma, and this can often calm them enough for a moment. Kids who hear this also tend to be more open to what you are going to say next, because they know you are both now working towards the same goal. I try very hard to keep my hands off what they are doing for as long as I can (it’s their skill to master, remember?).
Next, depending on the child’s developmental stage, I will either ask them why they think it isn’t working or gently tell them what isn’t working, and make a suggestion as to what might make the job easier. ‘The sock is a lot smaller than your foot, isn’t it? But what if we stretch this elastic out to make it bigger? Then your foot will fit into it better, and you can slide it on more.’ What will often happen, is the child will try out your idea, and it will either work and they’ll feel wonderful, or it won’t work, but because they’ve had the chance to try, they might be more open to letting you help with the last part of the task for them.
- Siblings or other children bothering them. This one is tricky. If another child is repeatedly upsetting your child, you may not see it very often. The other child may wait until you are not looking before snatching a toy from the child prone to tantrums (especially if it’s a younger child, more so if that child cannot yet speak much), hitting them, saying something to upset the child, or doing one of the many things kids can do to drive each other up the wall. This is where the observation stuff comes in very handy.
Usually, you can try to be unobtrusive and discover what is being done by the other child to bother your child so much. Many parents and carers can get quite a shock at what they find! If you have an especially careful child, you might not see it happen even if you are watching with an eagle eye. When this is the case, I usually get one of the other siblings not involved in the power play to keep an eye out for me, and let me know what the other child is doing.
The great thing about this is that it provides the child throwing the tantrum with an immense sense of relief and you can go on to deal with the other child’s behaviour.
It’s so useful to become aware of the triggers to your child’s tantrums. Facilitating understanding can lessen your frustration with your child’s tantrum, and help you to more clearly come up with a plan of how to deal with it. When parents and carers start watching for the triggers, they often find that the tantrum they have everyday, is at the same time, and at the same part of the routine. My two year old was often having a tantrum session right before lunch, as she was hungry and tired. When this happened, I would quickly put on her favourite ‘The Fairies’ dvd, which settled her instantly, just for long enough for me to make some lunch. I fed her then quickly popped her into bed for a nap. Once I began moving her lunch and nap time forward just a tiny bit, we managed to prevent the whole shebang. So, the main point I’d like to focus on, is that it’s the pattern that we watch for with triggers.
My next post will be about using language to help you and your child to navigate more smoothly through the tantrum stage. I’d also like to just say quickly, that I’m enjoying the responses on this series. I love that everyone commenting is so passionate about their own experiences!
