Holy 3 year olds.  I’m not sure what it is.  Summertime boredom?  Lack of a schedule?  Testing his limits?  Testing my limits?  I think it’s the lack of schedule.  It’s thrown me for a loop too.  Mason, recently, has had nasty temper tantrums. His obsession with keys (I can’t believe I haven’t posted about this…note to self) has boiled over.  Every so often Brett will bring home a new key or key fob to add to his collection.  Usually it’s a happy thing and Mason gets very excited.  But recently, unless it’s a Mercedes key fob, he gets very disappointed.  Let me just say that it’s never a Mercedes key fob.  He got one once, lost it, and hasn’t gotten another one. (It should be noted his obsession for all things Mercedes surpasses his obsession with keys) (Yes, I know he has good taste)

Anyway, so Brett gave him another key fob last week.  I want to say it was from a Chrysler.  It wasn’t, however, a Mercedes.  And then he threw the fit.  It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it wasn’t at his Cousin Cheryl’s dance recital. During intermission. Needless to say, that didn’t fly.  ”Lucky me” I had to leave for kickball anyway, so guess who got to take Mason? Kicking and screaming…literally.  And scratching too…my arm is still recovering, no joke.  I broke out in a sweat just getting him to the car and into the car seat.  And then to buckle him.  And re-buckle him…of course he knows how to unbuckle himself.  And that’s when I had to fib a little to keep him in that seat.  I told him that if he unbuckled himself while I was driving that a cop would see it and he would go to jail.  Let’s face it…at this point he would’ve cared less if they shipped me off to jail!  It worked until he got angry again and unbuckled on the freeway. I freaked out calmly pulled over and buckled him back in and gently reminded him that the cops would take him in.  He screamed the entire way to kickball…30 minutes.  It was just luck that I play kickball at a park that I adoringly referred to as the “Pig Park” in high school.  It’s located right next to a police station.  I pulled up and told him who was in that building and asked him if we should go in there so a police officer could tell him about the dangers of driving unbuckled.  He kindly said no and was an angel the rest of the night.

His keys, all 427 (okay that’s exaggerated but he does have a lot), got put in time out for 4 days.  We don’t mess around. I’m hoping he is getting these temper tantrums out of his system before he turns four?  I’ve heard four is better than 3.  I’m hoping so.  That last one was a doozy.  He’s been better this past week, with only a few threats reminders.

What are some things that help your child (or you) when they’re in meltdown mode?

Mason having a tantrum during bike riding.

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