I've been wondering how to spot the difference between a tantrum and a meltdown.
Today I found out.
Picked Miss Maddison up from school, and she started screaming at me in defiance because I'd asked her to fold down her umbrella. She didn't want to. She started carrying on and sooking. So I started to walk toward the car. She began her banshee-screaming, and this time I just ignored it. I kept walking. I stopped and waited for her to catch up, then I continued on walking toward the car.
We finally reached the car, and I put Coopman in the car. She was still screaming, so I stood next to the car. I physically sat her on the ground, and said, "We're not leaving until you calm down."
20 minutes later, she stopped screaming, and just started making these silly fake-crying noises, with a grin on her face. So I figured that she was attention-seeking. I got in the car, and about 30 seconds later she got in.
The sooking continued for about 8 of the 10 minutes it took to get home. When we got home, I got her bag out (didn't even bother trying to fight THAT battle, it's always a screaming match to get her to get her bag out of the car by herself), and she unbuckled Coop. We went inside, and I put Thomas on the TV for Cooper. She started carrying on about how she wanted to watch a movie, and she's soooo sick of Thomas, blah blah blah. I explained to her that he could watch his Thomas show because it only goes for ten minutes, and then she could watch a movie. She carried on when she didn't want to watch any that I got out. She wanted to watch a movie that I've only got on the computer. At this time of day, I'm not going to turn the slow computer on.
So she's now calm and watching a movie. I didn't give in to any of her demands, I ignored her bad behaviour. It seemed to do the trick. She's still very cranky and moody, and on the verge of melting down. But for now she's not too bad.
Hopefully today's bad mood and tantrums won't turn into a meltdown. It's nice to know that I can, with Madd, recognise the difference.
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