Toddler Tantrums SUCK

Chunk has always had the occasional strop, even when he was teeny, and people always use the phrase: “Wait until he hits the terrible twos!” but I was never phased as I felt I already experienced the full wrath of Chunk, but OH NO!

What I find so odd is that literally days after he turned two, he began to have a new kind of strop. He wouldn’t just scream, whine, cry or stamp his feet, he would now do much worse. I was in a shop with him and it was clearly one he didn’t want to go into, because he suddenly stopped by the front door, stuck out his bottom lip, clasped his hands together, gave me a filthy look and then bowed his head in the opposite direction.

He then wouldn’t move… at all.

All the usual distraction techniques (oh look at that spider on the floor/choccie biccies) failed completely, and he would just give me a moody side glance and continue to stand in the corner.

I tried walking away to encourage him to follow suit, but he would just scream and then return to his sullen pose.

So I had to pick him up and carry him around the store. He is a very heavy boy now and I have permanent back pain so it’s not a good combination.

Over the week he began to do this more and more, and my mum noticed it when we went for a daytrip to Raystede. We had gone to a car boot beforehand and he was fine on the journey, but as soon as we got out, he was having none of it. I had to literally drag him around, carry him, then put him down before I collapsed and drag him again. He wouldn’t respond to me or nanny, which is very unusual. He also started doing THE WORST MOVE… laying on the floor in public, screaming and refusing to get up.

I hate this because immediately you can hear people laughing, tutting, and you can see them judging how I will respond to this. I don’t care how they feel about the way I respond, I’m just a person that does not like to be centre of attention, as I much prefer blending into a background.

So I go into panic mode and this usually ends up with me ignoring him for a bit, seeing if he will follow me, and then going back to have a firm word and carrying him off kicking and smacking me (and he really hurts when he does it!).

Since then, I have been shopping with him and he got to the point of laying down on the welcome mat of every store, to the extent that he went down with such a thud in one clothes store, that he got a red mark on his head from the wiry carpet.

He even topped that by deciding he didn’t want to stay in one shop and he bolted out almost into the road. I had clothes in my hand at the time but ran out and set all the buzzers off. I managed to grab his shoulder just in time and then dashed back in to explain I wasn’t a thief!

Thankfully the man said he was more concerned about how my son was than the clothes.

It’s hard because on the one hand I can avoid half of this if I just put him in a buggy everywhere, but on the other he is never going to learn road sense, and to do as I ask if he doesn’t practice.

Chunk also loves to tell people to go away at the moment (I say it to him jokingly when he tries to tickle me, but it’s now being used with attitude!). The funniest was in Asda when a woman was picking up some apples and he shouted to her: “Go away lady, my apples!”. He said it so seriously and pointed at her, it was embarrassing but also hilarious!

Would love to hear the most embarrassing toddler tantrums you have experienced, and any tips on how to deal with them would be sooooo appreciated!

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