Coping With Frustrations

Now that Mika is able to express herself in writing, the skill is being used for good … and bad. This note was slipped under the bedroom door while she was having a timeout for hitting her brother with a wooden brick over the head.

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Tobin on the other hand shows promising signs that maybe there is a wee bit of light throughout the tunnel of the “terrible twos” we have recently entered. For once, he has been able to laugh at himself when he realized that he threw an overly dramatic fit … but those moments are rare. Today however, he was able to put his frustration into words for the first time: I stopped him from munching more than a couple of raisins before breakfast – a house rule because otherwise we would go through a tub of raisins every other day. Predictably, he dissolved into a puddle of tears and dramatically pounded the kitchen floor with his fist. I told him to stop fake-crying as this is what we go through e-ve-ry morning and he said: “Nein! Mami ärgert Tobin!” (No! Mami is upsetting Tobin!) and proceded with his dramatic performance … just long enough to make his point. Then he took off and played with Mika until breakfast was ready.