What's New Since Terminal 4

In the past few weeks, our precious happy little monkey has become a one-baby threat to my sanity. No, not all the time. Not even most of the time. But when she blows...whew! The tantrum volcano is ever present. She's at that challenging (probably more for her than for me) phase when she acknowledges that she has LOTS of big emotions and reactions to things, but is horribly at a loss as how to express herself. Often, the slightest (and most unsuspected) provocation results in an explosion equivalent of Mount St. Helens on the baby scale. While her fits of sheer misery seldom last for more than, say, 5 seconds, the increasing frequency has put a tremendous drain on my reserves. Still, at the end of it all, she is our loving happy little monkey, just as she always was. She gives hugs and kisses and now there's also this amazing, joyous ringing laughter she shares every single day. We still don't know how we ever got by without her.
Last month, I subscribed to Wondertime, a new parenting magazine, largely due to this article: Anatomy of a Tantrum
I laughed so hard when I read it that I had to read it again...and again. I read it aloud to my mom and to Markus. I've quoted it to friends. We've even dubbed Ellie's more inexplicable meltdowns as "Fingahs off!" moments (as in, "How is Ellie?" "She's wonderful, but we seem to be having a "Fingahs off!" kind of day."). If you parent a toddler, I consider this article a must-read. If you don't, you'll probably still get a laugh. At least it can give you a new term for when you yourself are having a "Fingahs off!" kind of day.

Note: this link works inconsistently, so if you have trouble, just go to the Wondertime homepage and enter "anatomy of a tantrum" in the search bar. it's worth it!