To think like a 2 year old......

I'm finding out a lot lately that they call it the Terrible Twos for a reason. Connor, who is a normally docile and cute child, has been acting like something akin to Satan's Spawn lately. Temper tantrums are not an adequate way to describe what he's been having. It's all-out warfare with him when he doesn't get his way. And I'm sorry to say that most of the time, the 32-pound tiny terror wins the battle.

As any stay at home mom will tell you, 13 or 14 hours of non-stop toddler fun can be more than taxing on your patience. It's safe to say I've been totally worn down at this point. Connor gave up napping about a month ago, so I don't even get that little reprieve anymore. Time outs don't work much these days, and any other form of punishment I've tried hasn't been successful, either. I literally took away all the kids toys one day as punishment for throwing them. Didn't make one lick of difference.

So I decided, on the advice of a friend, to read the book "The Happiest Toddler on the Block." After just a few chapters, I decided the author must be nuts. He compares toddlers to cavemen who have to learn the proper rules of behavior. He suggests the best way to deal with a tantrum is to let the child know you know how they feel. This involves becoming a toddler yourself. Today, when leaving preschool, Connor threw the kind of fit that had people looking at me like I was kidnapping him. So I decided at that point, with everyone in the building already staring at me, it couldn't hurt to try out one of the book's tactics. So I got down on my knees so I was at eye level with Connor. I clenched my fists and I yelled "You're mad, mad, mad and you're not going to take it anymore. You don't want to leave. It's not fair!" While everyone else was looking at me like a monster with 3 heads, Connor actually calmed down. By golly, it WORKED! It was embarrassing, but it worked. What's the moral of this story, you ask? I guess if I'm going to look like a moron in public with a kid throwing a tantrum, I might as well go all the way and repeat the caveman scenario. At least it's the lesser of two moron evils. :)