The tantrum

Kathleen woke completely out of sorts this morning. It all started at 4:11 when we heard her crying. DH went to her and didn’t come back to bed. I learned after I’d gotten up that he'd found her with her leg caught between the slats in her crib. She wouldn’t go back to bed.

I came out at my usual time and prepared breakfast as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t disturb her sleeping on the couch with daddy. She woke around normal time, but she did it with a cry. And she didn’t stop. She essentially leapt directly into a temper tantrum the moment her eyes opened and would not be soothed for anyone or anything. She refused her milk. She refused her toast. She refused her binky and her blanket. She refused to be held. It was that sort of morning.

We managed to settle her briefly just in time to get her ready for school. That went remarkably well until I tried to put on her pants and socks. She ripped off her socks and did her very best to writhe out of the pants. The tantrum carried on into the living room where I wrestled her into her sweater and jacket. DH then took his turn to hog tie her into her car seat with her sweater, fleece jacket, one sock, and no shoes.

She finally settled down during the ride into work. Thank goodness. I had visions of carrying her down the streets of Harrisburg attracting the notice of the Capitol Police while she screamed bloody murder.

She was absolutely normal by the time we made it to daycare. She’d even deigned to take a few sips of milk. I left her happily playing with a toy whisk broom and dust pan. Anticlimactic to say the least. Good. I like drama-less endings.

We don't know what prompted this episode. We theorize that her teeth could be bothering her - those molars on the left side are taking their time coming through. She's also at a stage of development where she's easily upset. The terrible twos actually start before two and last until three or four. She wants to be able to have control over her little world. Instead she wakes up somewhere that is not the usual place after having had the harrowing experience of becoming entrapped in the slats of the crib. It was enough to upset her equilibrium badly enough that something had to give. Add to that the fact that she was still obviously sleepy and you have the perfect storm. Poor kiddo. Maybe tomorrow morning will be better.