At Wits' End

Today was just one of those days.

It was capped off by the mother-of-all Graby meltdowns. 

Thirty minutes of full-on fist pumping, red-face turning, all-out wailing (very dramastic) - a full blown toddler meltdown, the likes of which I have never seen.  He wanted to go outside.  It was 5:30 (time to stay inside).  

I tried to remember everything I've read about toddler tantrums:

• Ignore the tantrum, but stay close so they don't feel alone - tried it.  If the goal is to make me feel like a crappy parent and hurt my ears, it worked.
• Try to talk the child through their frustration - tried it.  I did quite a bit of talking, Cub did absolutely no listening and lots and lots of crying.
• Try distracting the child - tired it (lots).  I took him to the microwave (his new favorite toy), turned on his favorite tv show, hugged him, tried to give him candy - nothing worked.  I even tried jumping up and down and dancing like a crazy person.  Cub continued to scream.

Eventually it got to be 6:00 PM (past bath time).  I gave him a forced bath - it was not pleasant and extremely short.  He screamed the entire time - I'm sure there was still some soap in his hair when I put him in bed.  I started to dry him off and he ran (naked) to the front door all the while, screaming.  

I scooped him up in his towel and took him into the bedroom where I rocked and sssshhhhed him for about ten minutes (he actually calmed down and stopped crying after about 30 seconds).  After all that, we read books for about twenty minutes and he went to bed without a peep.

I guess the afternoon was stressful for Cub, he got his second haircut and he was really good for the first 5 minutes and then he was just done; however, the lady kept chasing him around the place with scissors.  Buttin and I kept saying - it's OK, his hair is fine - but the lady insisted on adding a couple more layers.  

Here he is outside this afternoon (obviously, pre-meltdown).