K, what would you do in this case????

[christie]

Colin and I took Chris out to lunch today and there he seem to enjoy his lunch and was very well mannered ;D So we decided that since he seem in such a good mood we would stop at Toys R Us as he had some gift cards for there from Christmas. Started out OK BUT OMG within a few it turned into a nightmare Chris is 12 now and I HONESTLY have not seen this type of behavior with Chris since he was a tiny guy Chris had already picked out a DVD, a magnet thing and some blocks that he wanted and when we got to the bike department OMG he just seem to have a melt down Sooooo we told him GET OFF the BIKE and come on and well I will spare you the details BUT it was not pleasant Soooo we just put the stuff down the he wanted to buy with his gift cards and said, You act like this you get nothing and we are leaving and going home. So I grab his hand, and off we go. Now here is the odd part. Once we got out of the store he seemed happy and wanted to go home Now what the heck do you do with that?? It almost seemed to me he wanted to go home but didn't ask to go home soooo in my mind I thought I was punishing him for his behavior in the store BUT in reality he seem to get exactly what he wanted. Hmmmmm

HELP where did I go wrong on this one I mean since he wanted to go home should I have said K, we will NOT go home Hmmm LOLOL

One thing I will add and truly NOT to make an EXCUSE for him BUT he has been on antibotics (sp?) for a way long time now and he truly hasn't been himself

Man who said being a parent was easy??

CC ~

[Debi]

CC~~~have you been outside at night this week??? Have you noticed the FULL MOON
Laugh at me all you like but I dread full moon weeks. Gabe has been simply HORRID at school all week very uncharacteristic of him (for that length of time) Friday... was SO Much better and of course the moon was not nearly so full.
I work in a middle school and that place was HOPPING all week and ALL Of us say... look to the moon lol. And we were NOT joking.
If you don't like my full moon theory maybe he just got a bit overwhelmed. Saw allllllll these things he liked but couldn't process very well how to say it and how to sequence it.
Or maybe...could it be.. BOTH answers are correct?

[laurasnowbird]

I could be waaaaay off the mark here, but I know that with my kids, knowing what to expect from us and being disciplined makes them feel secure.

You mentioned that it has been a long time since Chris acted this way - maybe it was just a test, and he was relieved to know that the rules are the same. He's entering that pre-adolescent stage physically, and he could have been testing the water. In any case, I think you guys did the right thing! Hugs, Laura

[YoshsMom]

I agree with Laura about discipline making kids feel secure. Most kids don't like feeling out of control. You put an end to Chris' meltdown quickly, taking him out of an uncomfortable situation. Since this is not a usual behavior, it was probably not manipulation or attention seeking. You may never know why it happened, but I think you did exactly the right thing. I think he was happy because he didn't like the way he was acting and was glad it was over.

[Jessie]

Hmmmm, I think I like the full-moon explanation better! Last week when DH (I can use that now that we are married) and I were on our honeymoon Jason reverted back to some very bad behavior. We chalked it up to him not really understanding why we were not home with him (which is really probably what it was), but sounds like maybe there was just something in the air last week.

Jason messed his pants in school, tore two pairs of pj's, socks, a shirt and stuck a toy in a lit candle.

Glad we decided to come home a day early - I think he needed us and his structure back.

Jessie

[momofrussell]

CC... Regan use to do the SAME thing sometimes if we were out shopping. Regan isn't one for temper tantrums AT ALL (can count on one hand all she has had) but for some reason she'd act up sometimes... and I realized it WAS to go home.... Just like Chris did. It's hard to teach them to be good in a store and you want to take them home instead, only to find out or feel they have "won" once you get them home. Regan will also act out sometimes if we are going someplace she doesn't want to go. I use to say "if you act up we won't go" and man.. she was on to me LOL... and Kevin would step in and say... NO... we ARE going... that is what she wants.. to stay at home....

sigh......

I do agree with Laura and Yosh's mom... kids DO need discipline and will test the waters... to feel secure and sometimes just have a funny way of acting for attention. Sorry the trip to Toys R Us wasn't that pleasant.

As far as the full moon? Well, my husband SWEARS by it.. he works with the public and most of the time in his line of work, they aren't happy campers anyway... but when the full moon hits... my husband SWEARS they all go bizerk and just plan CRABBBBBY! I don't know how much I go with the whole "moon" theory.. but there might be some creed to it... our woman "cycle" is somewhat governed by the moon and the tides... so who knows....

A.

[rickismom]

First, you did GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It can be hard to do such a thing, but it should be effective. (HOPE so! ;D )

Well, I agree with Laura and Kerri, although Ricki did a similar thing to me last week. (fULL MOON? ) (Although I can't say we haven't had meltdowns lately--- they are much less, but not non-existant**)She asked me to get her something in the bakery, and I agreed, but when I limited her to ONE potato roll, she went into firecraker mode! And she's too heavy to carry out.....
The casheir told me "hERE, TAKE THE SECOND ONE FREE; Her Daddy always buys her what she wants" and I groweled back "i'M SORRY IF MY HUSBAND DOESN'T EDUCATE HER, BUT I AMMMM" (GRRRRRRRR Why do people always try and give our kids whatever they want? A MONSTER in the making.......)
Today I went to the grocery- I told Ricki that I don't want to bring her in, because of what she did in the bakery. She begged and I let her in with a warning. Guess what? She acted fine.

** Her previous meltdown was a week ago when she was suppossed to have ear tubes inserted.

[updowns]

Christie, I too think he was just totally overwhelmed and couldn't cope and felt relieved when you removed him?

Like the sound of the full-moon theory too tho - a friend of mine who is a teacher swears by it - says you can tell by the behaviour of the students when there is a full moon!!!!

Stella