Frustration

The Bubs loves his trains. Whether they are Thomas trains or Doug & Melissa trains or some cheaper knock off brand, he spends most of his time rolling them back and forth. Most of these trains connect via magnets. The connect and pull apart easily. They are perfect for a two-year old. However, these trains can also repel each other if two like poles are matched up. The Bubs doesn't understand this and that misunderstanding turns into frustration and even sometimes two-year-old tantrums. I've tried to show the Bubs how to simply turn one of the train cars around and reconnect if it repels at first try, but he just cries out and swipes the train cars to the side. He's got a temper.

I think he gets that from his mom. I say that because she is next to me reading this as I write. There... she's left me alone now. ;)  The Bub's mom and me want to make sure that we're helping him deal with his frustrations in a healthy way and we found a book called, "1, 2, 3... Magic." It's very helpful. I didn't realize that temper tantrums can be "counted." The Bubs is already hip to our new jive and things seem to be rolling along for now. It is a lot easier to start counting, "That's one. That's two...," versus nagging the little guy to stop conducting his negative behavior, i.e. temper tantrum. I think that it shows a confident and competent parent who has self control and the ability to handle/manage the situation. This goes a long way when trying to send messages to the Bubs.