Tantrum Thrower

Now it may come as a shock to some that I am looking forward to the fall, when I'll start teaching and JG will start going to daycare.  I know many mothers believe it is sacrilege to want to hand your precious one over to other people... but, honestly?  I think it will do me and JG some good to have some time to each other.

I know, be offended now, and get over it.

My daughter is a very opinionated and strong minded being, both traits I am happy to see she has inherited from her family (and reminds me constantly of my grandma).  However, it also means that when she doesn't get what she wants she has the tendency to blow up.  Something I can definitely identify with, since as a child I once told my PE teacher to F-off because running in 100 degree weather was something I simply would not do.

For a long time this just meant she would scream at the top of her lungs while I made dinner and had to leave her on the floor to protect her from the hot surfaces on the stove.  She doesn't care, she hates being ignored, and when she wants to be held she will throw a fit until she gets what she wants.

We've been working on this, with me telling her that I will not pick her up until she stops crying, and for a bit that strategy was working.

However.

However.

This last week there has been a new development.  I'm not sure when she worked out that when she's hurt and crying I scoop her up without asking her to stop.  So.

So.

Last week I watched her throw herself to the floor and scream when I was on the phone with my sister.  One second she was supporting herself without a problem, and then she used all of her kinetic energy to drop like a sack of very small potato's to the kitchen floor.  Her body even made a small thud when it hit the floor.

On Sunday we were watching Ponyo (eh) and JG was trying to play with the house phone and making noises for us to watch her.  Alex and I had our attention focused on the movie, and apparently this really upset her, because Alex watched her bite her arm and then scream like she had just been stabbed with hot pokers.

Tiny hot poker teeth.

How hard can a 14-month-old bite herself?  Well, initially there were teeth marks, by the end of the day they were welts, and two days later she has bruises on her arm.

Can you believe that?!  My child bit herself so hard she bruised.

I bought a book to help me figure out how to help her through this, I read about 50 pages and then lost it.  In my house.  And no, I don't know how I did that or where it is.  With me, if I go looking for it it's almost a 100% guarantee I won't find it.  So.

So.

It is very hard for me to get anything done while she is awake, because if I am not fully engaged with her she can get very mad.  She's not like that all the time, but enough that I have been conditioned to just give her what she wants (when she can actually have it, we do have rules even if she hates them).

So, I am looking forward to getting some time to myself this fall, even if I will have to work my ass off to learn how to be a good teacher.  Oh, man, I am going to be so exhausted.