Mutha of Meltdowns

Today was My Boerewors' first day back at work after being at home with us for two weeks. It all started off pretty normal and okay until we drove to the shops to do Megan's last bit of shopping for her back-to-school stationery.

When we got to the Mall, Kaylin (my three year old) spotted the "car" trolleys (similar to the one in this picture) and immediately got soopa excited and bolted towards them.  Unfortunatelywhen I eventually caught up with her I realised that they were still all chained together and no one in sight to help us get one free.  I told her we'd have to go and get a regular trolley in the meantime.

This set Kaylin into her Mutha of All Tantrums. 

I have NEVER seen her so destraught, angry, sad and frustrated.   This was the biggest wobble she as ever thrown!!  She started screaming at FULL volume (like her fingernails were being ripped out with a rusty pair of pliers), kicking like a grumpy mule and sobbing and stamping all at the same time.  At first I just stared at her - totally shocked at her over-reacting to the situation.  It was liked someone flicked a switch.

She was livid!

I could see she'd stepped into her "black zone" and there was no turning back or reasoning with her. In her rage I tried to smack her and landed up whacking my finger against her shoe and I now have a swollen and purple finger (serves me right for loosing it with her and falling for her winding me up). 

I immediately took her back to the car which made the tantrum increase because she now thought I was going to take her home (Kaylin loves shopping and going to the mall) when in actual fact I just wanted to get her to calm herself down.  Her face was turning from pink to red.

We sat in the car for a good ten minutes before she actually caught her breath and listened to the fact that if she didn't stop we weren't going into the shops. Eventually when she did pull herself towards herself, Megan whispered to me "Mummy I've never heard her scream THAT loud!".

Well neither had I!!

My ears were bleeding, my nerves shattered and my energy was instantly depleted.  I didn't want her to win though, so I gave Megan all my attention because the shopping trip was for her benefit after all.  I plonked Kaylin in a regular trolley and Megan and I walked hand in hand behind the trolley chatting about what we were going to buy.  Soon Kaylin realised that she wasn't getting any attention having a fat lip and sulking.

In the end we got everything done without a glitch.  Megan and I laughed and joked and fooled around while silent huffy Kaylin was pretty much ignored until she asked me for something. 

Sometimes playing deaf works the best.

What do you do when your little monster throws the mutha of all tantrums??