Signs of the Twos?

Aidan has been really good at showing his wants and needs lately. What I mean by this is that he is starting to really test me by throwing tantrums when he is upset. This usually occurs when there are cars or trains involved and ALWAYS happens in public! When I was a teacher I considered Behavior Management one of my strengths. But boy is it different when it is your own child! I do the best that I can by 1. Letting him know the rules and expectations before entering a "problematic" area where I can see there might be an issue. 2. Giving as little attention and energy to the tantrum as possible ( if he had a tantrum at home I would simply tell him to cry it out and walk away until he was done). 3. attempting to distract him with something else. 4. Talking to him about what the issue is and helping him to use his words.

Here is a prime example of what I am talking about. I will preface this by saying that I know I was setting myself up for failure last night because it was 6 oclock and WAY to late to be attempting to eating out at a restaurant because Aidan was 1. Starving 2. Sleepy and ready for bed. But anyways mom and I decided to do some shopping and time got away from us and it was what it was... So after heming and hawing about where to eat last night we decided to go to the Cracker Barrel. There was a 5 to 10 minute wait which wasnt really a big deal except they had CARS in their toy section. Aidan KNOWS that they have cars there and he made a beeline for them as soon as we entered the fine establishment. Now these are not just cars in boxes that are just fun to look at, but cars that are just loose in baskets and are fun to PLAY with. I let Aidan know that we could only stay a couple of minutes because it would be time to eat soon. When I heard them call the people that were ahead of us I began to set him up by telling him he had 1 more minute. They then called our name sooner than expected and it was time to go to the hostess stand. This is when melt down city happened. There was Aidan LAYING in the floor screaming and crying. I picked him up and told him that I knew he was really upset because he wanted to play with the cars but it was time to eat. This only made him cry louder. By the time we got to the hostess stand he had calmed down a little. By the time we got to the table he was crying again saying "cars, cars". At this point it was late and I didnt have the energy to deal with him during the entire meal . I do not believe in exposing other diners to bad toddler behavior, so I told mom to "lets just forget it and get it to go". I took Aidan to the car and 20 minutes later we were driving away with our food. Once at home he happily ate and was fine. The lesson learned in this scenerio was NEVER EVER EVER attempt to eat at a restuarant with Aidan if it is past 5:00.- at least until he turns 3!