Toddler Meltdowns

Before I had my daughter I was never really a little kid person. Toddlers to me were so annoying and the meltdowns were unbearable. I was that childless person that would look at a screaming toddler and then at the parents and mentally say, "can't you control that kid?" I gave this lookon a regular basis.

When I was pregnant and working at a library, I encountered many toddler meltdowns and I kept saying to myself, not my child, not my child. My daughter was born with the sweetest personality and indeed I patted myself on the back for making all the right descisions. At a year, she was walking, could drink from a regular straw cup, and had an amazing outgoing personality. Her meltdowns were few and far between, in fact she really only had them when she was tired. That changed when she turned 19 months old. Now she is highly independant, she knows exactly what she wants, and she screams at the drop of a hat. The best part is she seems to only do this when we are out in public. Lucky me. At times I find myself asking God, why? Then I realize that watching your child have a massive meltdown and then having to deal with it as best you can is a right of passage for any mom. Now when I see a toddler have a meltdown, instead of turning my nose up at the parents I smile and think at least I'm not alone.