Tantrums, groceries, and Cesar... :)

I had my first child temper tantrum today at the grocery store. Yes, I said FIRST. I have a five year old and three, three year olds and today was the first tantrum I ever dealt with in the store. My son decided he wanted to see if I had balls...So, he looked me square in the eye and decided to test my patience with a bunch of people looking on. I kid you not, it was like a square off in a western. Somewhere in the background, there was that whistle sound going off and a tumbleweed blowing by. He was on one end, and me on the other...who was going to draw and shoot first, and who was going to win the the battle? My son has yet to recognize, I am no punk. When you take on big mama, you lose. It's that simple.

I told him to hold on to the cart, so we could keep moving. You see, one of my rules while grocery shopping with the kids is that they all have to hold the cart while we walk. My son says: "No." I said, "Hold on to the cart." He said, "NO!" I said, "Okay, goodbye!" I literally walked five inches away (kid you not, one step), and he starts screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs... "I DO NOT WANT TO HOLD THE CART!"

Now, other mom's might have been embarrassed, or they might have ignored the kid, or spanked them, or yelled at them, or a thousand other responses, but I have to admit...I laughed. I had to hide my face, because I was laughing so hard. Sometimes it is quite funny to see the things that toddlers will choose to do battle over. When I had finally gained my composure, he was still screaming on the floor. I walked up to him and said quite plainly, "You hold this cart, now. We are all waiting for you to decide to behave." The trick is...you have to whisper it. Little kids are curious about what you're saying and the quieter that you talk, the more eager they are to hear it. It's almost like on some level of their brains they're wondering if you're promising them candy or a treat or something, and they don't want to miss out. He went dead silent, but didn't budge. "I said, now." Then began the stare off. I have learned this trick from Cesar Milan in regards to dealing with naughty dogs (I am not calling my son a dog, but it is however quite successful with little children), stare them down. Don't glare, don't be angry or aggressive, simply look at them with a calm submissive look. Provide calm energy. So that's what I did. You could see him starting to shift in place, and look all awkward. And then...it happened. He relented, grabbed the cart and we went on our way.

In a nutshell, I survived my first tantrum. Whew! Someone should give me a drink! ;)