Toddler Tantrums

Anyone who has called recently has heard IT..... the pitiful cries of a little 16-month-old girl desperate to have control of the phone.Or mid-morning the cries of a toddler wanting her paci. Or this afternoon during lunch the wailing of a hungry/tired child who isn't happy with her food selection and is NOT getting her way. We've hit IT.... the whinny stage before the terrible twos. This is when Toddlers know what they want, expect to get it immediately and then pitch a fit when they don't get it!!!

We've been at this stage before. And unfortunately I always feel like I've got my hands tied behind my back. If I give in they're spoiled and if I let them cry then I'm a mean parent. So for these tantrums we've decided to ignore the fussing..... and honestly they do stop crying and usually are quite pleasant (and even eat their dinner, at least part of it).

SO if you call and there is pitiful crying in the background, remember that it will end soon:)And from not getting what they want, when the want it, especially from whinny....soon the crying will be over and we'll have pleasant conversations again:)

We've also have had a funny phenomenon happening lately. When Anna is out with Brian or napping and the two youngest ones are the only ones to keep the dynamic of their relationship changes.... or maybe I just see it more. Yesterday while Brian and Anna did some visiting, I had Christopher and Lydia. Christopher really rose to the occasion and "took care of" Lydia. He was sweet and tried to help her outside and tried to play with her. Instead of grabbing balls out of her hands he would try to play catch with her. It was really funny to see:)

Don't get me wrong, he usually is sweet and tries to help, but it was almost like he tried to be her "big brother". And Lydia who usually winces when she sees Christopher running to her, waiting for him to tackle her, enjoyed the "extra" help from her big brother.

The picture is of him "helping" me bake cookies today. His job was to crush the pecans.... which he enjoyed doing:)