checked out sooner than I did because she had fewer items. With great
relief I watched her leaving the store, with her son still yelling. As she
passed the bubble-gum machine for the second time, she stopped and
bought her son a piece of gum!
I was dumbfounded. I almost lost all my professional decorum
right there. I wanted to jump over the counter, run up to this woman,
and say, “Excuse me, ma’am. You don’t know me, but I’m a clinical
psychologist. Could I talk to you for a moment?” This mother had just
rewarded a twenty-minute tantrum.
CautionNever reward tantrums by giving the child what he or she wants! You’re only
guaranteeing more tantrums in the future.There may be times out in public when, in spite of everything
you’ve done, your child won’t stop a tantrum. Your choices then are
these: gut it out and finish your shopping while the child continues his
tantrum, take the child out to the car until he stops screaming, or go
home.
Don’t Take Them Unless You Have To
Have you ever been to church on Sunday, and in the row ahead of you
is a couple with a two-year-old? The two-year-old, of course, isn’t