A Temper Tantrum In Public!

She was four years old and throwing a temper tantrum on the floor of the Atlanta airport. Her mom was pushing a much younger child in a stroller. The more her mom tried to get her up, the more temper she unleashed. Having been a preschool teacher for many years, I instinctively mouthed to mom to walk away. “Just walk away.“ Mom looked at me skeptically, and I motioned that I was watching the child. Mom turned hesitantly and began to walk away. I told the beautiful four-year-old that mom was leaving. She stopped crying, stood up and ran to mom. Mom turned back to me and mouthed, “Thank you.”

I’m sure you can list the many ways that this scenario could take a wrong turn, but it worked. Sometimes with the push and pull of parenting, it’s good to use the surprising, unexpected, totally out of character parental response.