Friday, August 8, 2008

A Terrible Tantrum

I hope I never judge another parent when I see their child throw a fit. You see, Evie had the tantrum to end all tantrums today. In front of GaGa and the kids. And Aunt Rachel. And a few hundred other people at the Magic House.

The day began innocently enough. We found the last parking spot available and headed in. First we played in the Baby and Me section on the baby gym, in the play kitchen, and in the little toddler boat. Evie was having so much fun!

Then we made our way into the Little Bit of Magic exhibit. I mean, WOW! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful place for children in St. Louis. Evie was entranced by a row of lights and switches of every variety. She must have stood there for 20 minutes, just turning the lights on and off. On and off. On and off.

Then we spotted a little secret mouse house. Evie opened the door, and we saw a mouse picnic, complete with cheese and 7-Up! She actually laid on the ground so she could see better!

Oh, and there was a kid-sized spiral staircase. I squeezed up after her, and there was a giant slide on top. So we spent the next 20 minutes going down and up the slide. (I have to admit, I slid down twice myself.)

And there was the sand box. We have a sand table at home, so you wouldn't think it would be that interesting, right? WRONG! This little hands-on activity caused the tantrum. Evie played and played and played until Aunt Rachel came to get us. Instant and very loud wailing.

Now, Evie has had tantrums before. But generally I can distract her with lip gloss or a drink or, God forbid, candy. Nothing worked. Evie was crying so loudly, flailing about, and pointing back to the sand exhibit. I tried looking in her eyes and speaking to her in a soothing voice. I tried pointing out other exhibits we passed. She was choking and drooling from crying so hard! She cried in the elevator and out the door. She was so sad looking, pointing back and begging "More, more, more!"

When we reached the parking lot, she noticed construction equipment and all the "diggers." That calmed her down a bit. It took a bottle of water, all to herself, to fully get her back to normal.

Evie already has a great love for the Magic House, and we didn't even see most of it. We really had a wonderful time. I hated to leave, too, but I was able to hold it together better than Evie! There is so much more to see and I have a feeling we'll be spending lots of time there in the future. I'm adding a Membership to her Christmas list!

8 comments:

Mamajil said...

Yeah! Got to love those moments huh?! I mentioned tantrums in a meme this past week...Before I had kids I thought if I was consistent in my parenting then my kids would "never have a fit"....Like I mentioned in my post...I've learned having kids means they will throw a fit....and the consistency part it is the hard part... that is the part where you have to correct it each time (yeah usually there are more than one fit-throwing day in each kids life)...the good news is that maybe tomorrow won't include tantrums :) I enjoyed your post and btw thanks for visiting my blog!

bluedog said...

Those are the moments I get to look forward to when Avery gets older. Yeah! But I realize that tantrums come with the territory: their age, the amount of stimulation they've received, and oodles more factors.

Just be glad you just have Evie to contend with. My sis-in-law has 3 under 3 with another on the way. I've seen all three, and their mom, have tantrums all at the same time. It ain't pretty. I think that's why Dan only wants one child. LOL.

You live and learn, and you're a great mom, so I'm sure you'll figure out the best way to handle Evie's tantrums in the future. So far it seems like you are right on track.

Mozi Esme said...

Fortunately I haven't had any major meltdowns in public yet with my 16mo girl - but I know they're coming! So far the distraction technique has worked pretty well.

Sounds like a fun time except for that!

Mrs. Stam said...

I do not understand why kid could change their mood like that in a click of a moment!

Our 15 month old daughter had a few tantrum too and it's so difficult to keep your cool and to disciple!

I left a reply to your comment of "casual friday everyday" I taught you would like to see it too so here's goes

*** To SarahHub here is a verse that I think is a clear promise from God

! cor 13 :11-12

“11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”

We will understand it all! ****

Have a blessed day
Renee

Ashton said...

Anna Grace makes herself limp- (I think that's the word! lol) and screams when you don't give her her Glow Fish (gold fish) or Fwoot Loops (Froot Loops)or any other kind of snack food she likes! lol

Heather said...

I want to go to Magic House. It sounds AWESOME.

Now that the baby has had a tantrum in public, all I can say is, Welcome to the Club! It sounds like to me that you did a great job in handling it.

:)

Anonymous said...

As she approaches two this will probably happen more and more often. Gah. Then they outgrow it and life is bliss again. :)

Cheers!
Jamie

Shari Baby said...

i wanna go to this place next time we come visit. evie can show me the ropes...if she behaves. hehe.