The 30 Minute Scream

Yes that’s right, my 2 year old is really GOOD at being 2. We have had a couple trying evenings. It’s like the button gets stuck on scream and cry until you are over heated and coughing.

Last night really did it for me. Kenny was at work of course, seems like she can’t pull this when Daddy is home and I have help. I picked them up at Vickie’s, of course she is having a blast, doesn’t want to leave. I pick her up, she asks to ‘walk’. So I put her down to walk and she runs into the yard to play in water and dirt from the melted snow. I grab her again, she kicks and says she wants to ‘walk’. I gave her one more chance. She’s 2, I try to pick my battles with her, if she wants to walk to the car no big deal, but we only play the game so long before I turn into the ‘mean mommy’.

So the second attempt to allow her to walk to the car fails! I was duped. She got me. She played me well. She goes to Vickie’s porch yelling and crying that she wants to stay. I love that she loves it there but really we need to go home. By this point Hailey is in the car crying. Thankfully for now I only have one that is stubborn and fights me on every little thing. So while Ava cries and Vickie tries to help with her, I go and put the bink in Hailey’s mouth. She is good to go.

Ava, still crying, won’t come to me. So I told Vickie we would see her the next day they are scheduled there and scooped Ava up and walked to the car. She is kicking, screaming, snot running out of her nose. I had to fight her in the carseat. I am not kidding, I had to hold her down with one arm while the other arm buckled FAST. I wasn’t playing around. I knew if I didn’t do it quick, I would miss my chance. I had to adjust her wiggly butt twice before I got her sitting back far enough to latch everything properly.

So here we go, on the road to home. She is crying, I hear a thump on my seat. While at a stop light I look back at her, she is bear foot. She was throwing her shoes at my seat! Yes this is a big I am totally angry temper tantrum. I turn up the radio a little. I try to reason with her. I ask her why she is crying. I tell her if she doesn’t stop, she’ll go to bed when we get home. I try everything that normally would work to get her to stop.

Twenty-five minutes later we are at the top of the mountain, 5 minutes from home. Hailey chimes in with a yell, then a grunt. Ava stops crying asks ‘whats that’. I immediately try to make it work to my advantage. I tell her Hailey is tired of hearing her crying and is telling her to be quiet and act like a big girl. Ava quits. Just like that. She is sniffling, kinda whining, but not screaming at the top of her lungs. Hailey yells again, Ava looks over at her and tells her ‘it is okay, we are almost home’.

For a half hour I had been telling her this same phrase. “Ava calm down, we are almost home” It didn’t do any good but it made me feel like I was doing something. Trying to drive and deal with an upset kid is the worst. Then she uses it with Hailey. Hailey wasn’t even upset, she was just talking.

So my 2 year old proved she can scream almost continously for a half hour, not loose her voice, be snotty, and throw her shoes. When we got home, all was forgiven, she played with Hailey and ate a good dinner. Almost like nothing happened.

So anyone else with a good temper tantum story?? Gotta love 2 year olds!