Temper Tantrums

I swear Balian is hitting his terrible two's a year early. If I am not doing what he wants exactly when he wants it, I get yelled at. The kid is rotten. All because of a sippy cup. I've started trying to get him to use the sippy cup that has a straw instead of the spout because this kid is way to lazy to hold the cup up to get the juice. He'll just sit there and suck on it. And it's not one of those "if he wants it badly enough he'll learn to hold it up" things. No, this kid is waaaaay too stubborn. So I bought him the straw one. If he's in a good mood, he'll take it, try it for a minute, then throw it away. If he's in a bad mood, like today, he'll pitch a fit because it's not what he wants. Today he threw himself backwards onto the tile floor and knocked his head. I've had many a parent tell me to just let him cry it out because he'll stop eventually. Nope. That doesn't work either. He'll pitch a fit for an hour, sometimes two, just depends on how long it takes him to pass out from loss of energy or for me to take pity on him and pick him back up. I wish I knew what was going on in that little brain of his.

Temper tantrums, while annoying, is pretty acceptable in a kid that's three or younger. However, it's not cute at all when pitched by a teen or an adult. So why do we accept attitudes and behavior in pre-schoolers that we won't accept in older kids and adults? I've been wondering this for a while now. Generally it's because we, as adults, feel like a child "doesn't know any better", so it's okay. However, a mentally unstable adult "doesn't know any better" either, but still gets thrown in jail for breaking the law. An immigrant may not know better, but will still be punished for his actions.

Obviously I'm not advocating putting out kids in jail if they do something socially unacceptable (unless it's pretty severe, like murder). My view is that it's a double standard. Babies and kids are a lot smarter than psychologist, behaviorist, and doctor's give them credit for. Babies can manipulate situations as early as four or five months because they've learned that certain things they do will either earn attention or repel it. My ten month old knows what the word "No" means. He just chooses to ignore it, and when he does, he gets in trouble. I know some parents let their kid get away with everything until they hit about four, and then start trying to discipline them. I don't understand these people. The older they are, the harder it is to teach them what is socially or morally acceptable and what is not. If you start teaching them, even in small ways, from the time they are born, they learn much quicker and it saves so much heart ache and disciplining.

And I'm saying all of this as my son is falling asleep where he sits, exhausted from the past 45 minutes of screaming.

I'm not a psychologist, sociologist, doctor... I'm a mom. I'm open to other views and opinions on questions like this because I know that my view is not perfect.

If I have made you think, to use your brain, for even a fraction of a second, then my work is accomplished.