Lessons of A Child's Tantrum

It is hard to stay calm in the midst of a child's meltdown. I tried my best to keep my cool as my son repeated hurtful comments that he didn't understand. He must have heard the words somewhere and then I wonder what we, the parents, are teaching him through our own actions. In public, the sweet child can turn into a monster in a second. This tantrum was over the fact that I wouldn't buy him a car or truck.

Our son, Linus, has plenty of car and truck toys. There are so many vehicles in the house that we step on them. He is very blessed to have toys and all the necessities of life. But there is a selfish nature that we all possess and this day it was revealed. The “I Want” attitude overtook our innocent child and he snapped.

I removed him from the store where he proceeded to hit me. I had to hold him still so he wouldn't run out into the parking lot and be in real danger. To Linus, not getting what he wanted was the end of the world, but from my point of view, losing him would be. I explained to our son that no one is perfect, we all make mistakes, and we all need to apologize. That is what forgiveness is for. Just as God forgives us, we must forgive each other. Forgiveness portrays us as images of God. That is a special quality I hope we are instilling in our son.