Temper Tantrum Tales

Your child is working at becoming more and more independent. He might be trying to get his shoes on by himself or communicating that he prefers one
type of food to another. This desire for independence is a reason why you might be seeing an increase inmore instances of temper tantrums. He may feel
frustrated when he cant be in control of certain decisions. He may not have the words to explain that he is mad and the reason behind such feeling.
why he feels that way. The only way he may know how to express himself could be by whining, screaming, crying, kicking, throwing himself on the
ground – having a good, old fashioned temper tantrum!

Lets try some ways to help him express his feelings positively and avoid those screaming and kicking fits.

Practice making faces in front of a mirror with different emotions such as happy, sad, mad, scared etc. Talk about what makes him feel
happy, sad, mad and scared. Validate that it is alright to feel such feeling emotions are okay and that you want him to tell you when
they are feeling a certain way. Also make sure that when you talk about feelings you include ideas on appropriate ways to express them.
“When you are mad should you yell and scream or tell me your mad and take some time to sit and calm down?”

Parents need to communicate with their children what is expected of themtheir expectations so their kids would y
know what they need to do and how to do it. One place that I have a talk with my son a head of time is when we need to go to the store.
I always say the same thing, so that he always knows what my expectations are. “We are going to the grocery store to get food.
You will sit in the cart, keep your hands to yourself and remember to use your indoor voice. We are only getting these items on the list
(read off the list). When we are all done at the grocery store we will go home.” Then I ask him these questions: What are we doing?
What are you suppose to do? What foods are we getting? While at the grocery store remember to talk and involve your child with the shopping.
Ask him what foods we still need to get and what foods are already in the cart.

RememberKeep in mind that, communicating your expectations are the ground work to helping your child succeed behave well and for him to have a tantrum-free have a great day!