DS is 3.5. In his good moments he is an adorable, happy & laughing little boy. In the last 5 months or so his behaviour and tantrums have become more unpredictable and tricky to manage. I wouldn’t say we are at Supernanny level yet but DH and I are finding it hard not to lose patience but at the same time not just give in. Here are a few examples:
DS wakes up at 4:30 am & comes into our bedroom and says he needs to go to the toilet. So far no problem. Then says he needs his sunglasses to go in the bathroom because the light’s too bright. When I say I don’t know where they are he starts whining and then ends up on the floor wailing his eyes out.
Or, later I ask him what colour straw he would like in his beaker of chocolate milk (he always chooses pink straw for purple beaker) he says green. I put the green one in the beaker and then he says no I want pink. ‘But DS you already chose green;’ cue more wailing.
Or, I am going up the stairs with a tray of hot coffee, his milk etc, and he will go into one on the stairs because either he needs to go first/ he needs to be second/ I need to carry him (29 wks preggers)/ he’s ‘stuck’(pretends that his feet are glued to the floor). All very funny but not with a tray of coffee in my hands. My pleas for him to just keep going up get met with more wailing and flailing.
I know these sound just like examples of normal pre-school kids antics but examples like this are happening all day long so how do you get the balance right between pandering to their little characters and making them understand you can't always have everything you want the second you want it without having to go through World War 3?
Sorry this is a bit long but I’m wondering how other parents get the balance right and cope with these kind of episodes.