The Tantrum Truth Comes Out

Another Anna story. I can't resist.

Today has been a particularly sensitive day for Anna. She has been freaking out over every little thing and was especially crabby at lunch, in a way I've never really seen her before. She was extremely loud about hating everything on her plate, which is so atypical, and even yelled that she hated tomatoes. What?! This girl will eat everything (I blame this kind of defiant behavior on the negative influence she gets from the other kids at church. :D) She finally calmed down enough to eat everything there, but still.

And then when I told her that she needed to go to the bathroom before her nap, she flipped. Tears, flailing, the whole shebang. I've been trying to teach her how to adjust and how to talk about what's bothering her instead of the instant freak out, since it seems like the tantrums come more and more often these days. So here's how our ensuing dialogue went:

Me: Anna, calm down. Just tell me the problem.
Anna: (tantruming)
Me: Anna, sweetheart, I don't know what's bothering you. I can't understand you when you're crying. Just talk to me so that I can help.
Anna: (tantruming, although simmering down a little)
Me: Anna, what's wrong? Just tell me what's bothering you without crying.
Anna: (in a sad, tearful voice) It's you, Mom. You're bothering me.
Me: (laughing)

That explains so much.