Eddie has never been a tantrum-thrower.
When he was a toddler, if we told him “no”, he would listen, but he would cry. If he was sent to timeout, he would stay there and mournfully cry. He didn’t thrash about or throw himself to the ground.
We went through a phase where he would grunt out of frustration because he didn’t have any words. And even when he did, we had to work to break that habit.
We thought these defiant grunts and the loud crying from his room were what people meant when they referred to kids having tantrums.
And then we had Charlie.
Oh he tricked us with his calm, laid back demeanor for the first year or so of his life–always so laid back, just taking things in. Always being all happy and content unless he was tired or hungry.
He was always so easy to please: give him lunch or put him to bed.
He is one of the happiest kids…until he is not. He has one weakness: The word “no”.
Oh you guys. This child has a FIERCE temper of which I have not seen before.
I don’t remember when Eddie started saying “no”, but I can tell you it was one of Charlie’s very first real words. He furrows his brown and wags his finger at us when he is displeased and firmly says, “no NO!”
He will also tell things he is not supposed to touch (lamps, the TV, lamps) “no, NO!” as if it’s their fault he gets in trouble for touching them.
If we tell him to do something he doesn’t want to do ( “come here,” for example), he will firmly say, “NO!” If we try to take away the remote, the ice cream scooper, or a pair of scissors (home sluice is a stealthy drawer-raiding ninja) he throws himself to the ground and screams at the top of his lungs and writhes about.
If we won’t let him run amok in the bathroom simply because his brother forgot to close the door behind him, we have to drag him from the premises while he flails and wails. It’s good that we don’t have close neighbors on most sides because I’m sure it sounds like we are stabbing baby seals every time Charlie is displeased with the rules being enforced.
Tonight Cortney had to remove a mischievous Charlie from the bathroom so Eddie could take a bath. When Cort picked him up, Charlie arched his back and screamed. Cort had to set him down in the hall way on his back where he continued to scream cry for another couple minutes while we all ignored him.
Then he spotted a toy and was fine.
In fact, I think he stood up and sort of pranced to the toy and then did this little football huddle-like dance while giggling like a fool.
That is how The Bird rolls.
I’ll be honest, the first time Charlie threw a tantrum I just stood there staring. And then started to laugh because WHAT WAS HAPPENING? My sweet, chill boy turned into something that seemed demon-possessed. It was ridiculous.
That is when it hit me: this is what a tantrum looks like.
So I did what I could, I walked away from him.
There is no reasoning with a 19-month old anyway, especially one mid-temper-tantrum.
Plus watching him only exacerbates things because he tantrums harder because he wants you to stop looking at him. No one said toddlers were super bright.
Honestly the tantrums are not a problem. Yet. They are how Charlie is starting to show frustration and that is healthy, but it’s just another reminder to me how different children are.
But they have one thing in common: they know how to push each other’s buttons. Charlie knows exactly what will make Eddie yell, and Eddie knows how to launch Charlie into an epic tantrum (hint: tell him “no” or take something away from him. Then take cover.).
Charlie working REALLY hard to get Eddie to freak out. It worked. About 30 seconds after I took this, Eddie had a meltdown about Bird being in his space.
As much as the yelling and screaming and seeing who can make my ears bleed faster can drive me batty some most days, it’s so fun to watch these two grow up together. It’s REALLY fun to see Charlie’s personality take off now that he is learning to express himself.
Even if that expressing happens to be in a tantrum of epic proportions.
