Toddler Tantrums: Is Your Child on a Big Emotional Bender? Try This One Simple Move! Parenting

Big emotions are a fact of life no matter what age you are. Sometimes you just get ticked off and feel like raging. As adults, we learn to control these outbursts (most of the time) or at least channel them appropriately. Kids on the other hand are a complex work in progress.

The “threenager” moments are a real, almost comical phenomenon. It’s that moment your sweet, angelic child – who is 3 going on 13 – wigs out, presenting you with a flash of the future made all too real with an impressive eye roll, door slam and over-the-top scream. Maybe you cut the sandwich wrong. Perhaps you said “no” to something they couldn’t live without, like a sparkly Anna doll. Regardless, it’s NOT FAIR! And they’re REALLY MAD, so just GO AWAY.

I used to meet this frustrating behavior with my own resistance because, just … no! But that was ugly and ineffective. My go-to move now? A hug! Yes, for real. Try it. Just validate their feelings, acknowledge that sometimes life is disappointing and offer a hug. Nine times out of 10 my daughter will say, “Well, OK,” and just like that the tension is over, everything is going to be all right and you’re in the clear to talk it out.