Dejavu

A couple of years ago my then 1yr old daughter used to have THE. WORST. TANTRUMS.  Like so bad that she would make herself throw up.  I shudder to remember those days and am SO glad that Rafael has not hit that level of extreme tantruming (and knock on wood never will).  Maybe partly because I was a new mom with Michaela and would never dream of diffusing a tantrum with bribery, whereas now that's the first resort with Rafael!

Anyways, Michaela.  Tantrums.  They always used to happen when there was a change in routine, however slight.  Maybe I told her we were going home but forgot I needed something from the grocery store and so she would FLIP out.  Or maybe I forgot to give her a 10 minute warning at playgroup and tried to just leave.  Whatever it was, it made her very unhappy.  Well the last few days these wonderful things seem to be re-emerging.  At almost 4!!!!!!! 

Like yesterday when we went to the Dollar Store and there were no carts left.  She was pissed and threw herself on the ground screaming "I want a cart!"  No amount of hissing that she was too old to act that way, or there's no carts left, or cut it out this second or so help me I will give you something to cry about's helped in the slightest.  Rafael is still too easily distracted to walk in a parking lot so I ended up having to hold him in one arm while I literally dragged Michaela out the door and back to our car with the other arm.  I drove straight home in a rage and put her in quiet time/nap time without any lunch.

Of course, I can't stay angry at her for long because she always apologizes so quickly!  I heard her knocking on her little door and she told me that she was sorry that she yelled at me and that what she did was not very nice.  Sigh.  How could I stay mad after that?  Of course, I'm sure she's playing me just to get her sentence reduced.  Don't laugh, yes a 3 1/2yr old is perfectly capable of being that conniving.

I'm hoping she's off her game because she's been sick (possible allergies), because if she reverts back to that stage right now, I am just not going to make it!