Calming the Toddler Tornado

Meet Booger:

I love my daughter. She is absolutely adorable, super smart, hysterical, full of life, the best big sister in the world, and an absolute terror.

In other words, she is a toddler.

And toddlers are assholes.

There is no way around it-- the mind of a toddler is finicky thing. You think men don't know what women want? Try figuring out what a toddler wants. If you think they want what they say they want, you're wrong. If you think they want the opposite of what they say they want, you're still wrong.

The moral of the story? You're wrong. Period. Don't try to reason with them. They bite. Don't try to get ahead of the game and assume you know they want a PBJ for lunch because that's their favorite food, because today they hate PBJ.

Did I mention they scream? They scream if you look at them wrong. They scream if you don't look at them. They scream if they want you to play with them, but will scream when you come over to play. They will run away to play with another toy and scream if you don't follow them. They will always burst into tears if you try to make a Lego house when they ask you to make a Lego house. Know why? Good, let me know, I haven't figured it out yet.

When Booger was born, I told myself I would be the best mom ever. I would never smack her butt, never have to raise my voice. She would listen to directions because we would talk and be close and I would raise her to be a wonderful person.

Then she became 2. I laugh at my ignorance and am grateful I already have very low expectations for Chunk. Trust me, the lower the expectation with a toddler, the better. The more sanity you'll save. The less you'll beat yourself up when things don't go exactly according to plan.

Today has been one of those trying days. The tears, the screams, the throwing, the hits. Since after nap and lunch, we've had maybe 10 minutes of peace in this house. Booger is a walking Tornado.

I have tried so many things to get her to calm down, especially when there is no reason to be freaking out in the first place. We've done time outs, time ins, quiet time in her room, and ignoring her until the tantrum stops. Currently, we are working with essential oils, or as Booger calls them, her "smellies". After a time out, I would let her sniff the cap of an oil, usually lavender or Peace and Calming. Whether its the deep breaths, the oil, or just taking her mind off the crazy, it worked.

Yesterday, I made her a diffuser bracelet. We put some White Angelica, Lavender, and Peace and Calming on it. Of course, within a few hours she managed to break it (it was an old, old bracelet of mine, so it was worn out already). For the short amount of time she had it on, however, the tantrums were minimal. If she started getting frustrated and angry, I told her to smell the bracelet and she calmed down. I even caught her doing it all by herself once.

I searched Amazon today for a kids bracelet and found one I think will work for Booger. She likes to be able to take it on and off, so the simple snap should be easy enough for her.

So many things haven't worked so far, but I'm hoping this gives some amount of peace back to our family. Toddlers are no joke. Between the 800 questions they ask every 3 minutes, to the crazy amount of energy they can have right before bedtime, to the complete mix of emotions within seconds, toddlers are a force to be reckoned with.

 I'll let you know how the bracelet works out, but in the meantime, let me know what ways you use to cope with a crazy toddler!