Let's talk about meltdowns and temper tantrums. Arms flailing, feet stomping, the full body drop-to-the-ground moment. For toddlers, the image is all too familiar. For those of us who have older children, we take a sigh. But are tantrums just for toddlers? No, they aren't. The tantrum meltdown isn't just for kids. It's also an experience many teens, young adults, and adults experience on the regular. They just look a little different now. Let me explain.
"We can't receive from others what they were never taught to give." ~Unknown When I was younger, I believed that love meant being understood. I thought my parents would be there for me, emotionally and mentally. But love, I've learned, isn't always expressed in the ways we need, and not everyone has the tools to give what they never received.
My grandmother strove for perfection, convinced that it was an attainable goal if only you worked hard enough. This meant eating less to lose weight. Food deprivation became a family bonding activity when my grandmother was on a diet. Diets lasted decades. We had marathon cleaning weekends while friends went to the mall. Play clothes were swapped out for school clothes for our rare trips to Burger King.
It's hard to know when to ask permission from other kids' parents. Do you text them about whether their kid can eat sugar? Whether they can see certain TV shows? Wether they can jump on a trampoline? It's hard to know when kids have allergies or limitations, but you also don't want to bug a kid's parents about every little thing. However... when it comes to giving kids medicine and medicinal items... you'd think you'd call or send out a little text before dosing a kid in your care, right?
First, Culkin pointed out that his sons can watch Disney Channel classic sitcom, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which starred his now-wife, Brenda Song, and the kids totally get it. "I'll put it on. Brenda hates it, but I'll put it on ... They're like, 'Yeah, that's mama.' So they get that. But when they see Kevin, they always just call him Kevin. Because the illusion's still there," Culkin began.
It's Christmastime, which means peace on Earth and goodwill toward others. But do ALL others deserve such generosity? What if one of those other people is your adult daughter? And what if your daughter, the cruel wretch, decided not to invite you to her wedding? Well, if you're 59-year-old Laura Wellington, you do what any right-thinking American would: You create multiple social media accounts with the handle "Doormat Mom" that are dedicated to publicly dragging your child into the gutter with you:
My wife "Anna" and I have a 3-year-old daughter, "Bree," who is terrified of dogs. Four months ago, my in-laws adopted a little ankle-biter mutt that barks and nips at anyone who isn't them. The last time we visited, Bree was so scared we had to take her home. Now my in-laws are insisting on bringing the dog with them when they come for Christmas. I don't want Bree to be terrified during what should be an enjoyable time for her.
I explained that by letting her believe in Santa all these years, I had helped her enjoy the holidays even more. I told her it was a responsibility shared by all older kids and adults worldwide - to never break the illusion, so younger children could experience that same magic. And now that she was old enough to know the truth, she was also old enough to carry that responsibility.
Recently, I came across this post on the popular Ask Reddit page from user ViolatingBadgers that I thought was too cute not to share. In it, they asked people "who grew up in emotionally healthy families" to share "something you thought was normal growing up that you now realize was actually very special." The results were so wholesome and such a positive read that I thought they had to be shared. So, here are some of the best:
I have a daughter and a son, and I don't want them to ever think like, 'Oh, Mommy's insecure,' or, you know, like, 'My mom doesn't like...' I always want them to think I'm happy with myself and, like, because they get their self-esteem from their parents, you know. So yeah, it's important to me to, like, show up with confidence,
My spouse "Jaime," like their entire family, has naturally perfect teeth. I am not so genetically blessed, and if I hadn't had heavy-duty braces from fifth through eighth grade, my teeth would be horrifically jacked-up. Our 10-year-old daughter, "Sara," unfortunately seems to have gotten her teeth from my side.
As a divorced mom, one of the hardest parts of the holidays is facing Christmas morning knowing that I will not have presents under the tree unless I buy them and wrap them for myself. And as my kids get older, they've started to notice that I'm not unwrapping much on Christmas morning. But while they're old enough to want to shop for me, they're not old enough to go out and do it by themselves.
She had been out to dinner - on a party bus! - with other moms for a good friend's 40th birthday party. In the meantime, the kids had a ball with their "hands-on 'Super Dad,'" Stephanie explains. Nick took the kids - Gwen, 10-year-old Clayton and 3-year-old Penelope - out for dinner, milkshakes and a movie. Gwen wrote about discovering her mom back home in the morning. "When I awoke, I was shocked!"
After a run-in with a new coworker at the laundromat, Cass (Asia Kate Dillon) has a drunken hookup with Kalli (Louisa Krause). Kalli seems to take an immediate trusting to Cass, and after Cass tells her their side-gig is nannying, Kalli asks if they can watch her daughter Ari (Ridley Asha Bateman) while she goes out of town for work.
If I'd thought my job was done after only one talk, my very shy, introverted daughter would never have come to me during a very scary time. She felt off 'down there' and told me. I knew that she had a new partner and I knew they were probably having sex; I was having sex at her age. So while she was a little vague, I knew that she'd come to me for a reason.
I'm with you. It's a phase; it'll pass. What's the hurry? Indeed, "impatient" is an interesting word to describe how your husband is feeling about your child's eating. I am pretty sure he knows that eventually PB&J will lose its appeal ( especially if your 3-year-old eats it at every meal for weeks on end) and your son will want to expand his culinary palate.
As far as I was concerned, Australia's world-first social media law aimed at preventing children under 16 from accessing social media apps was already a success. But this week, as the ban took effect, my son wasn't so sure. Access to his accounts remained largely unchanged. Many of his friends were in the same position. Across the country, the rollout has been uneven, as social media companies try to work out how to verify kids' ages.
not because he was in trouble but because the parents had called the school to complain about their son's scuffed water bottle and wanted it replaced. They asked for $23. I wrote a check and was tempted to add a snarky comment, but I didn't. Yes, my son should keep his hands to himself, but the water bottle is still functional. My son apologized.
About three years ago, I was picking my daughter up from school and started chatting with parents about how arduous it is to run the kids' social lives. One mom said that she felt like an executive assistant for her daughter. There was a lot of frustration and angst toward the kids, and as a dad of three, I understood it.
My Gen Alpha daughter was born in 2016, but sometimes it feels like she's growing up in a different universe entirely. Her world is one where Roblox trends spill straight into our living room and where her understanding of "aesthetic" comes less from glossy magazines and more from avatar outfits. She'll discover a new style- preppy, coquette, baddie-while running around Obbys or shopping virtual boutiques, and somehow by the end of the week those trends have migrated into her real-life wardrobe debates.
My husband and I spoke to his teachers, looked at dance blogs, and learned as much about the ballet world as possible. He could try many options, such as summer intensives, competitions, attending an academy associated with a company, or applying to a college with a dance major. Most of these options meant sending away a kid much younger than 18 years old - something that scared me.
Dear Prudence, I've been friends with "Tania" for a long time. She is very anti-kid. Not just child-free-she doesn't like children at all and will say so often. Some of it is pushback against gendered expectations in her family, which I sympathize with, e.g., she is expected to regularly care for her infant niece while her brothers and brothers-in-law (including the father!) are never handed a child and diaper bag the moment they're through the door to visit. Still, her dislike of kids is extreme.
So, on the foundation of anxiety and depression, fear of the unknown, need for control and stability, avoidant tendencies, competitiveness, perfectionism (i.e., needing to know everything to feel secure), and the obsession with discovering root causes (or essences), gifted children are often fixated on life's deeper questions.
