PEARL 44

Temper Tantrums

The good news is there’s usually a little warning: the big ear-to-ear

frown, the flushing of the face, the balled-up little fists. Sometimes the
little lips twitch spasmodically like a sort of warm-up exercise. All of
these preliminaries give us a few seconds to sprint for the earmuffs
before the little mouth opens wide and fills the room with a scream that
would run shivers up and down Stephen King’s spine.
The temper tantrum. Every child has his or her own style. Some plop
their fannies down on the floor in preparation, others latch on to our legs
as if they were tree trunks in a windstorm, and others fall back on
tradition: the pounding-fists-on-the-floor routine. It actually could be sort
of humorous — if it were someone else’s kid and we had suitable ear
protection in place!
The bad news is that temper tantrums happen regardless of what we do.
At one time or another, every kid throws one. Unfortunately, many
parents approach these tantrums with fear and loathing. They try to do
everything humanly possible to prevent them, even to the point of
avoiding saying “no” to their tyke for fear that the little fellow will
explode like Mount St. Helens.
Two things to remember about tantrums: One, any kid worth keeping
will probably throw a fit from time to time. Only kids whose spirits have
been broken don’t fight to get their way. Two, kids will throw tantrums
only as long as they work. Kids never seem to scream and pound the floor
when they’re alone in their room, but the show goes on when they have a
captive audience.