general. When frustrated, older kids may also swear or complain
angrily.
Some children’s fits of temper go on for very long periods. Many
ADHD and bipolar children, for example, have been known to rant
and rave for more than an hour at a time. In the process they may
damage property or trash their rooms. Tantrums will be prolonged
even further if (1) the child has an audience; (2) the adults involved
continue talking, arguing, or pleading with the child; or (3) the adults
don’t know how to handle the aggression.
Temper fits in two-year-olds can be aggravating, but they can also
be funny. My wife took a picture of our son when he was an energetic
toddler having a temper tantrum right in the middle of the ashes in the
fireplace at my parents’ home. (The fire was not going, of course.)
We all can still laugh at that scene.
As kids get older and more powerful, tantrums get more
worrisome and just plain scarier. That’s why we like to see them well
controlled or eliminated by the time a child is five or six.
- Threat: “I’m going to run away from home!”
Frustrated kids often threaten their parents with dire predictions if the
adults don’t come across with the desired goods. Here are a few
examples:
“I’m going to run away from home!”
“I’ll never speak to you again!”
“I’m going to kill myself!”
“I’m not eating dinner and I won’t do my homework!”