WWYD: Toddler attitudes

Aussie45

A has really started to get an attitude with us. This morning, she had one of those little bags from Subway you get in the kids meals. She brought it over and said "Ooo!" Well I don't know wtf Ooh means so I opened it thinking she wanted it opened. She handed it back to me and said Ooh again so then I assumed she wanted it closed. Neither open nor close was what she wanted so she got pissed and threw it at the ground, picked up again and threw it at me. I told her that if she was going to throw her stuff in anger then we would lose that toy for the day. I have no idea if that's the right kind of punishment or not for what she did. How do you deal with the attitudes?

She does the same thing at her food. She LOVES pineapple. I gave her some and she hit it with her hands and swiped maybe two or three pieces off to the floor and some in her chair. I told her not to throw it and kept getting her lunch ready and putting different things on her tray. Obviously, I can't take the food away, but what do you do if your kid is throwing food in anger? Should I just get her whole lunch ready instead of putting stuff on as I get it assembled and then give her a warning if she throws she's going to be done eating, and then follow through?

I literally had a brain fart this morning when she hit her food because she was mad. I have no earthly idea how to deal with attitudes. Kids need to come with a manual.

Aussie45

She's not quite old enough to say exactly what she wants. She knows what she wants and she just can't express that want. I told her I wasn't sure what she wanted me to do with the bag and that's when she got mad at me. I'll try to redirect her attention to something else next time.

zbeesma86

Z understands & still can get pissy over silly little things. I acknowledge & then try to redirect. Sometimes that works & we are fine & dandy. other times it doesn't & I leave her in a tantrum & tell her we will talk when she can use her words.

Toddlers are hard. She keeps me on my toes. 

Aussie45

sing4mysavior said:

 To me, It doesn't sound as much like "attitude" as it does just being frustrated with her inability to be understood.

Ya, the first one was this to be sure. The second one was more just attitude. I don't get her. She LOVES pineapple. She loves eating it. WTF are you doing by swiping it off the tray and then eating it 3 seconds later?! Toddlers.. :P

raraavis28

I agree w/ Sing that it sounds more like frustration than attitude. I'd try to just help her calm down and redirect.

As for the pineapple, we have a similar "throwing food = all done" policy, but one thing to keep in mind is that hunger can really mess w/ toddlers. If it was the beginning of the meal she could have just had a much lower frustration threshold which explains the crazy behavior. I know this is true of my little guys, esp. N.

LoveBeingMama

Having two late talkers, we dealt with a lot of frustration when they couldn't express themselves. Rather than saying, "I don't understand" and then redirecting, try "I don't understand, can you show me what you want me to do?" Or "can you show me a different way?" I was amazed at how good my boys were with acting things out to get their point across. Even at a young age, they know when they are being blown off, so saying you don't get it and then moving on may be just as frustrating.

Aussie45

@LoveBeingMama‌ That's an awesome point. I never even thought of that. I'll definitely be trying that in the future. Hopefully that cuts down on a lot of her (and my!) frustrations.