SNAP!
Allie's crayon broke.
I blinked.
She was suddenly . . .
furious,
fuming,
frustrated, and so, so sooo
ANGRY!
When Allie's crayon breaks, she is so angry that she behaves monstrously. In Allie All Along, she's shown as a big red metaphorical monster. Her brother has ideas to help her get over her tantrum, though. First, he gives her a pillow to punch. It helps a bit. The red monster becomes a yellow one, showing that she's a little less angry. He gives Allie her favorite toy to squeeze and that helps a little, too. Now, she's just a green monster.
Step by step, Allie's temper dims as her brother uses calming techniques on her. She becomes less angry until she's just slightly upset and a little sad. And, then a hug is enough to help her forget her anger completely. The monster is gone and it's just Allie showing, now.
Recommended - I'm so far beyond the days of having a small child that I had to think back to remember temper tantrums and then I recalled one doozy that happened while my eldest son and I were shopping. There wasn't a pillow to punch or a toy to squeeze. There won't always be, of course. But, talking about temper tantrums and reading about ideas to manage a little one's anger when they're not angry, or reading to help them calm down, seems like an awfully good idea to me. Even adults don't always understand their own emotions and Allie All Along tells a child, "You're okay. Even when you're unhappy and become a bit of a monster, the real you is in there, just trying to figure out how to cope." And, maybe it will give a few parents ideas for dealing with tantrums.
I also recommend:
The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings by Anna Llenas (page down at the linked site to read my review)
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I (half) joke that my 3 year old has rage inside of him. The two of us should probably read this one together.
ReplyDeleteYou hear about the "Terrible Twos" but I found that 3 was the worst year, at least for us (both times). It's a good book and I like the way the author used colored monsters as a metaphor for anger. Plus, the anger management techniques are interesting. I didn't even think about it while my 3-year-old granddaughter was here, this weekend! She had a slight meltdown (hurt feelings) when Fiona got a little nervous and nipped granddaughter. It wasn't a painful bite, but little one was convinced Fiona didn't love her back, briefly. That would have been a great time to try cuddling pillows (not punching them).
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