Mini Meltdowns

Lord, help me! I prayed last night that God would grant me the patience and strength to deal with these mini-meltdowns when they happen. I got a book from my secret Santa, aka Kelly, for Christmas that hopefully will help. It's from the same author that wrote Happiest Baby on the Block, which was SO helpful! It's called Happiest Toddler on the Block. I'm only on the third chapter but so far it's taught me how to talk "Toddler-ese" and get down on their level of how to communicate with them so the tantrums are brought to a screeching halt in seconds! They keys are 1) short phrases, 2)repetition and 3)mirror your tots' intensity in tone and gestures. As soon as they start to calm down and their brain gets back to rationalization, you can tell them why they cannot have what they want, but also suggest something much better! Sounds great right? :) So far, it's truly helped. We're working on the steps and hopefully this will help with any future meltdowns.

Last night his meltdowns were from 1) me taking his cool but very muddy rock he found outside when we were going back inside, 2) me taking my yummy mashed potatoes away after I had given him about 5 spoonfuls and 3) me taking his toothbrush from him so I could attempt to brush his teeth. Notice they all had the words "me taking..." in them, so by the end of the night, I was not his best friend anymore! But as soon as dada came in the door, he had a big hug just waiting for him. That kinda made me sad.

I know he's starting to transition into a little person who has a mind of his own and I have to try to respect his wishes in what he wants, and sometimes what he just cannot have. His biggest meltdown was the mashed potatoes, so I tried the "toddler-ese". I got down on his level after letting him cry it out for a few seconds and said "Ethan is MAD, MAD, MAD! Mommy took his potatoes and he wants them NOW, NOW, NOW!" - all of this is done with me looking mad and raising my fists like I'm mad. Yeah - I looked pretty cool at this point. Where's the video camera when you need it? Literally, within a few seconds, he stopped crying, looked at me with this face of amazement that I may have actually understood WHY he was upset, and soon after, picked up a toy and moved on into the living room to play. My mouth hit the floor. The book may actually have some truth to it. I'll keep working on it and see if that truly works, not that I actually want another episode! I DO NOT, but I know they will keep coming. Pray for us. :)