How to avoid a tantrum

I have a very stubborn, energetic and opinionated daughter. She is a very good girl and loves her brother a ton but she gets a little aggressive when she gets too pent up.  If Mom and Dad are in a conversation and she doesn’t feel like we are listening or if she gets bored for a long period of time, she will start to act up. If you’re a parent with a toddler, I’m sure you can relate! So, I started implementing this new idea. It’s so simple and easy and has extinguished many battles before they became a war. At least, as long as I remember to use it.

It’s called Rewind. How many times has Ahria done something and I thought “that was silly, why did she just do that?” Sometimes I will even say to her “why would you do that?!” Like the time I was in a conversation with her dad and she asked for peaches. When she didn’t get the peaches, she pushed her brother. “Why would you do that?!” Or when she ripped the remote out of my hand instead of asking for it nicely. When she does things like this, I can almost see on her face that she is wondering “why did I just do that?” So asking her the same thing would only vent my frustration toward her. Instead, I say “I don’t think you meant to do that. Would you like to go back and try that again?”

When I first thought of trying this, I didn’t expect it to work. I figured she would just look at me and things would escalate anyway. But every time so far, she has rethought her actions and started over. I honestly can’t believe it. I have yet to have her not respond positively to this. Yesterday, she wanted to brush her teeth in the bedroom. I wanted her to brush her teeth in the bathroom. It was a losing battle and was turning sour fast. Then I remembered to ask her to try again and immediately there was a change of course.

A simple rewind, who’d of thought!

Have you tried this with your little one? How did it go? What other tactics do you use to minimize arguments? Comment below!↓