And so it starts again. The 4 year old tanty.
I love my children dearly and would seriously harm anyone that even looked at them the wrong way, but when Master 4 gets wound up - I would gladly give him to the first person that looked my way. And it seems to be getting worse, not better.
Were the girls this bad at this age? I'm sure they weren't, or is that just that Parental Short-Term Amnesia that is kicking in (which often starts when we plan our second child "oh that birth thing really wasn't all that bad").
Himself didn't really get just how bad Master 4 had got until he (and the Grandparents, and the Uncle & Aunt) witnessed it while on our recent holiday. Even Grandpa was heard to remark how most unlike Master 4 that was, and that they had never heard him even remotely sound like a steam train at full roar!
- I've tried reasoning with him - of course that's the worst possible thing I could do. Who can reason with a 4 year old? Unless it's another 4 year old.
- I've tried threatening him - the second worst thing I can do, because when I carry through with the threat he has usually calmed down, and that just starts him back up again.
- I've tried the bribery - which has it's advantages, namely he SHUTS UP, but not always so this can be very hit & miss (and I certainly DO NOT want to use this all the time).
- I've tried having a glass of wine - and surprisingly that seems to work quite well for me, just not for him!
- I've tried ignoring him, but then he starts adding MUM MUM MUM to the horrible steam train roar.
So what to do about the tantrums?
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