Althouse: How to have a temper tantrum.

May 13, 2007

How to have a temper tantrum.

12 comments:

Jennifer said...: That is too funny. My son has never in his life thrown a tantrum, but my daughter is a drama QUEEN. Still, not with this kind of commitment. Ha ha ha, I love it!; 5/13/07, 9:19 AM
Palladian said...: I like that it has to include a dramatic total collapse...; 5/13/07, 9:26 AM
Sofa King said...: Love how the dog goes along.; 5/13/07, 9:53 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Sooooo funny. My Mother told me how to hanndle my daughter's temper tantrums based on her infinite wisdom. This method works. Serenly ignore the tantrum, step over the screaming child and move to another room. No yelling or any recognition of the temper tanturm. Rinse and repeat. Eventually the child wears out and gives up. We did this little dance routine only once.

Thank you MOM....on this Mother's Day.; 5/13/07, 10:30 AM
Joan said...: Dust Bunny Queen, your mom's advice is spot on for a tantrum like the one seen here, which is hysterically (ha!) funny.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work for every kid, as I finally figured out with my oldest -- when he got himself wound up, he didn't know how to wind down, and he once cried for an hour and a half, entirely without an audience. After that particular incident I realized that the standard "ignore him and he'll stop" advice didn't apply, and then I felt like the biggest jerk ever to become a parent.

Then the danger was correctly interpreting his siblings' tantrums. Fortunately neither one of them has their brother's temperament, so I could safely ignore them, and they figured out pretty quickly that behavior like that got them nowhwere. (For the record, behavior like that didn't get their brother anywhere, either -- he just needed help to calm down, but once calm, he still didn't get whatever he was screaming for.); 5/13/07, 10:41 AM
Galvanized said...: LOL I love this vid :D'' I love how someone must be watching for the effort to be worth it...in the hopes someone will ask, "What's wrong, Baby?." I know grownups like this!; 5/13/07, 12:43 PM
AmPowerBlog said...: That is a classic video! I agree that the ignore treatment works on occassion depending on the child. But my two boys are so completely different behaviorally, that I've had to develop individual parenting styles for each of them. For my youngest, it's not just tantrums; they're meltdowns, and ignoring them doesn't make them go away. Sometimes it's fatigue, of course, but many other variables are in play.

That's all of "daddy's parental wisdom" for the day (besides, it's Mother's Day!). Thanks for the YouTube!

Burkean Reflections; 5/13/07, 12:48 PM
Daryl said...: This is why the best tantrums are always thrown in public.

This advice is true whether you're six or thirty-six (it's also why taking your girlfriend out for a nice dinner to break up with her can be dangerous); 5/13/07, 1:49 PM
joated said...: This kid is destined for Hollywood! Maybe as the next Michael Moore?; 5/13/07, 1:57 PM
TMink said...: I love this video, it is so funny and true!

I think a couple of posters are talking about something other than tantrums. The video star is all about manipulation, and the meltdowns are about children who have difficulty self soothing. They look almost exactly the same, but the tantrums are on or off depending on the audience. People who have difficulty calming themselves go on and on without an audience because they are well and truly worked up.

Once they learn to modulate their affect, they can tantrum like this child too. So you parents give yourself a break, you realized it was different and applied a different approach. That is the best anyone could do.

Trey; 5/14/07, 6:16 PM
Brent said...: Haven't we already seen enough videos of Nancy Pelosi?; 5/15/07, 3:59 AM
Sakthi said...: Tears in my eyes..Pain in my stomach....I cant stop laugh ya...The child is too brilliant,cute and funny,hope he doesn't get hurts while falling many times...
AA Breakdown Cover; 5/18/07, 3:47 AM