You’ve finally gotten the chance to have a night out. You and your husband snagged that very rare occasion that only happens once in a blue moon where you both have the night off, you both have more energy than a sloth, and the babysitter was free. You have a pretty good feeling that your toddler is going to throw a bit of a fit at some point before bed, but you are almost 98% certain that your babysitter knows how to deal with toddler tantrums. After all, she is your mother and she’s been with the baby since he was making babbling sounds at about seven months old. If anyone does, she knows how to deal with toddler tantrums.
What you know for sure when you close the car door, and you and your husband squeal out of your own driveway is that you will not be at all concerned this evening with dealing with a picky toddler, dealing with terrible twos, or dealing with toddler tantrums in any way of any kind. Well, you might not have thought things through, and who could blame you? It is a small miracle you got out at all.
Just because you leave your own toddler at home doesn’t mean that other folks will be so lucky. That means that you are very likely to cross paths with a tired toddler or two by the time you hit the town. Here are a few tips designed to help you with how to deal with toddler tantrums when they aren’t you toddlers.
1.) Look out for them ahead of time.
You know as well as anybody what a toddler’s tantrum looks like. The terrible twos ain’t got nothing on you. You’ve seen the way they percolate. You’ve seen the way they warm up before that big top blow up. Since you are such a pro, put that pro knowledge to work for you as the out front scout. If you can see one coming before it sees you, you have already defused that tantrum bomb for yourself.
2.) Just walk away!
If you hadn’t been able to spot the where-there’s-smoke-there’s-fire moment or if there was no preview, just a full-blown main attraction, whatever the case may be and you end up right in the middle of a tantrum, just walk away. Put down the pair of skinny jeans you were thinking about buying and just get out of the area.
3.) Bring your faces.
Sometimes you are simply stuck and cannot escape what looks like it could be a terrible tarantula of a tantrum. Mothers, when acting instinctually, will respond to about 50 to 60% of the vocal sounds of their offspring. But, sometimes you have just had so much and then you start to not hear or feel the warm up. That’s when you need the help of a friend you don’t even know, and today that friend is you.
This won’t work often with your own kid because they know how to get to you. But, if you can reach the kid before boils, you might be able to save the day. Get the kid’s attention in some way that is not too conspicuous, and start making funny faces. The kid will either love it or make your life a living hell. It’s worth the chance, though.
