When Your Child Throws a Fit...

The other day I had a good friend visiting from out of town. It was great to see her and her 2-yr-old little boy. We had a nice visit and it was fun to catch up. Just as it was time for them to go, her 2-yr-old (who was obviously tired from the travel schedule) starting throwing a tantrum. Crying, throwing toys, backing away from his mom, etc... I place no judgement, I have children of my own, all moms have been there, but here's my question. What do you do when your child throws a fit? My friend just stood there and watched her child cry and cry, occasionally asking, "what's wrong?" At first, I figured, she knows her child, maybe this will pass quickly as soon as he gets it out of his system. But the crying went on and on for several minutes, with my friend just watching.

When my kids melt-down, my first instinct is to remove my child as quickly as possible so that others don't have to witness the scene. Or maybe it's because I don't want others to witness the scene. But she just calmly stood there and finally after about 10 minutes, they started making their way out the door. At this point, I was just as exhausted as the 2-yr-old. Once they got outside, everything was fine and they proceeded to get in the car and leave. Although it was great to see them, I'm embarrassed to say, that I was kind of glad to see them go. I still love them, and I'll be excited to see them again, but ending on the never-ending tantrum was kind of a downer. Kids will be kids, and I know that, but it got me thinking about the way I would handle the situation. What would you do?