Tantrum Trouble

You probably think this post is going to be about my child's temper tantrums.  No, not yet...  Luckily he's still a little young for full on tantrums.

No, this is about the tantrums of the other people in his house.  Yes, I'm referring to Michael & myself.  Having a baby can definitely push your buttons & this sometimes results in momentarily losing your patience.

Last week, we had a rough night with Alex.  As soon as we went to bed, he woke up & started crying.  Michael went to try to soothe him back to sleep.  Thirty minutes later, Michael came back into the room to head back to bed.  He turned on the monitor & heard Alex crying again already.  Michael was getting over a cold or bug & still didn't feel 100%, so he was tired & grumpy.  His response to Alex crying was to yell an obscene word very loudly in frustration.  I quickly took the monitor & told him to go back to bed.  I knew Michael had hit his limit & it would be best for us all if I took over.

A few days later, I was teasing Michael about his little outburst (I mean, thirty minutes of trying to get him back to sleep??  Try ALL NIGHT).  Then Michael reminded me of a recent meltdown that I had not too long ago.  To prove I'm a good sport, I'll tell you about my tantrum.

About a month ago, we started trying to get Alex to go to bed by 8 pm each evening.  For the first week or so, he thought it was more like naptime than bedtime & he'd wake up around 9 pm.  Finally, he started to get the memo & he would stay asleep until his next feeding.  I actually got to have an evening & relax!  A glass of wine, read, watch TV - it was nice!  One night I was looking forward to decompressing but Alex had other ideas.  He woke up around 9 pm & showed no signs of going back to sleep.  I was overtired & emotional.  Michael realized this & suggested that he take Alex & I go to bed.  My response?  I believe it went something like this.

"I don't WANT to go to bed.  I WANT to enjoy my evening & then go to bed at a normal time & then sleep all night like everybody else...  ACTUALLY, what I REALLY feel like doing is walking out the door & away from this life!!!"

Classic, right?  Had I thrown myself on the ground kicking, I could have easily been mistaken for a three year old.  Michael smartly kept his mouth shut & just quietly took Alex from my arms.  I proceeded to pout for about thirty minutes & then I went to bed.  The next morning I was feeling much more sane & Michael jokingly asked if I still felt like walking out the door.  I laughed at myself & told him I thought I'd stick around for a little longer.  :)

The lesson I've learned?  You're going to lose it sometimes & that's ok.  As long as you punch the couch & not your baby or your husband, don't feel too bad about those outbursts.  (Who would punch a couch, you say?  That's not important.  Couches are very resilient.)  Just let it out & laugh about it later.  You'll need that sense of humor once your child starts his own tantrum fest!