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Sunday 30 January 2011

About Tantrums

Called Charlotte today, she is so lovely and calming.  Her response to my opener of "Lots of tantrums this week" was "Children or grown ups??"

She related some tales of tantrums I have known, including a toddler who took off his clothes and nappy and threw them over the stairgate when he was supposed to be in bed, of creativity with nappy cream and hand prints etc. All horribly normal.

The screaming so DH tells me, does not get under his skin. It has no effect on him. To test this theory I left the room when one was in full swing about having been brought to the table and strapped in to the high chair when he wanted to carry on playing with his bricks. (He was making trees out of them, very thin ones for the trunks and very thick ones for the leaves and branches. Looked like upside down towers but was impressed by the fine motor skills involved.  I can totally see why he resented the interruption, but you have got to eat!?

Tried the ignoring of the screaming. And praising when he calmed down, but he really hates praise. It makes him worse. So I left the room completely. He was ignored (tantrumming or quiet) and in ten minutes he was asleep.  Husband regards himself as a much better parent than me.

Tantrums have been worse since he has been on milk free diet since what seemed to me to be an allergy flare up a week ago. He is more energetic generally and is also refusing to sleep in the day though undisturbed nights of up to 13 hours have also occured.

Have been praising both children, Aslana loves it and preens. Edward is irritated by it. He's not that bothered by cuddles either.

Saturday 29 January 2011

How the Pasta Burnt

It wasn't really the best of culinary moments anyway. 

We had enough pasta for two and a Jar of sauce.  This was the meal for the parents, being too nutritionally void to offer children.

There was no great plan beyond cooking the pasta and stirring in the sauce. That was all.  But. It was an overreach on my part. A & E were happily eating couscous (yes these really are the initials of my children, and now, relating the burnt pasta incident, seems appropriate).  Couscous is so easy.  I needed easy. To make up for easy there were roasted vegetables (possibly even four of the five a day) to be picked out daintily by A and spat out by E. For protein: smoked sausage.  It doesn't need cooking - great stuff. Not great nutritionally maybe but it ticked a box.  So I was happy with that. I was unconcerned that a shower of couscous was landing on the highchair tabled and floor and would later be sticking to bare feet or socks. Children were eating no one was whining, no one was trying to fly from the high chair. There was some singing, some silliness and happy faces.  And then I thought. I could put the pasta on.

Pasta in saucepan. Switch on gas hob. walk back to table with children. Briefly it must have occured to me to put water in the pan.  I found the kettle had been on when I started to smell the acrid scent of the meal I should not have attempted. 

The saucepan was two weeks old.

It survived.

Previously in the same week E discovered Tantrums.  Daily tantrums now with added language - to every single thing I said the response crying, resistence, and don't want to. Tantrums for every single school run. Morning. Evening. Tantrums for being asked to hold hands next to a road. Tantrums for going to his friends house. Tantrums for not going to his friends house. Tantrums for leaving. Tantrums for being hungry. Tantrums for being offered the wrong food.  Tantrums to the point that I cannot remember which way is up.

I called the Children's Centre and booked myself onto a parenting course.  I'll let you know whether pasta gets more edible.