Thursday, February 6, 2014

We have a walker!


This was the first really challenging month in fatherhood. Shayna has entered a tantrum phase and, well, it's not a lot of fun. If she doesn't get what she wants (or often for no reason at all) she'll throw herself backwards and cry like the world is coming to an end. As with all parenting information, there's two schools of thought on what to do when this happens. Our pediatrician believes that you need to ignore the kid and it'll break the habit. Others believe you need to try and get the kid over the tantrum since they're frustrated that they can't properly communicate what's wrong. I fall somewhere in the middle. At first, we ignored Shayna's tantrums and she would snap out of them pretty quickly. However, there's been a few where she gets herself so worked up it's no longer an act. Her crying turns into the most intense sniveling I've ever heard and she inevitably has snot all over her face and hair. This is generally when I break. If not then, it's when she bangs her head on the ground. We have wooden floors so the noise is like a kick to my stomach every time it happens. The doctor says that the kids won't do it if it actually hurts them. But every time she does it I picture her college dreams going from Harvard to, well, a school that doesn't require you to know how to spell Harvard.

Shayna's day care has canceled school a few times this past month which means I've had her to myself during the day. Don't get me wrong, I love having Shayna all to myself but when she throws a tantrum I wish to god I could have a nanny delivered to my door in thirty minutes or less.

The other day I picked up Shayna from school and one of her classmates was having a terrible tantrum. The teacher said she had been crying nonstop for an hour. I'm clearly a terrible person because I started to smile when she said this. It's nice to know Shayna's not the only one.

Now all that said, when Shayna's not busy being a head banger, it's been tons of fun. A week ago I showed up at school and Shayna immediately stood up and walked to me. It was awesome. Even more awesome is that I got to see her walk before Huyen!

4 comments:

Laura said...

(1) this was on my FB feed this morning and i got a kick out of it. http://themetapicture.com/why-my-kid-is-crying/
shayna is certainly not the only one. =)

(2) when i was a kid, i would also beat my head against the hard floor. my mom says i would look at her, and if she didn't appear to be looking, i would move to carpet and continue to do it there instead. and tho i did not wind up going to harvard, i suppose i've done ok.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to have you running up to us for a hug and kiss! We love you!! PopPop & Grandma

Anonymous said...

....AND YOU SHOULD SEE HER WITH HER 1ST PAIR OF SHOES... THAT'S THE NEXT BLOG.SHOPPED AT JAY'S SHOEBOX JUST LIKE HER DAD,UNCLE ZEV AND AUNT HANNAH. P & G

Unknown said...

Hey Ben,
It looks like you are enjoying fatherhood and all of the ups and downs. Thank goodness there are way more ups than downs. She's adorable and it was amazing to see her just get up and walk. Enjoy each moment. In your words, it goes way too fast. One of these days we are going to get to meet her in person. Until then, have fun.
Love, Ellen