Being a good parent is all about being flexible, adaptable, and rolling with whatever weirdness comes your way. Things rarely—if ever!—turn out the way you plan them. And raising your mischievous munchkins is no different.
Your little tykes might have a massive meltdown for a silly reason, but veteran parents know not to get flustered and instead embrace the comedy. Our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the funniest tweets (now called X’s) about the most ridiculous reasons that parents saw their kids throw temper tantrums over the years. Scroll down for some feel-good and relatable hilarity!
Bored Panda wanted to find out how to react to temper tantrums, so we reached out to popular writer Samantha Scroggin, the host of the witty 'Walking Outside in Slippers' parenting blog. Read on for the insights she shared with us, including why it's so important to really listen to why your kids are upset. "They might be irrational, but their feelings are real."
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Samantha, the creator of the 'Walking Outside in Slippers' parenting blog told Bored Panda that she is all too familiar with temper tantrums.
"Not only from my kids, but I apparently threw some epic ones as a kid. I've definitely lost my temper along with my kids while dealing with their meltdowns. That does not work well," she opened up to us.
"I've found that if I can remain calm despite their emotional upheaval, and wait it out, that's the best approach. Maybe there are consequences, but it can be hard to get them to care about that in the heat of the moment," the parenting blogger shared.
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"Just get them to a quiet place away from people if you can, and help them calm down. Then talk about what is making them so upset, and really listen. They might be irrational, but their feelings are real."
Blogger Samantha was kind enough to share a few pearls of wisdom to help out new parents who feel overwhelmed and stressed out by all the tantrums.
"Parenthood is not easy, and it's probably not going to be like we expect! I would suggest carving out a bit of alone time if you can," she said.
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"The whining and crying comes with the territory, unless you are lucky enough to have a unicorn child."
Having some healthy boundaries, according to the mom, is an essential part of parenting. "I try to set boundaries with my kids, that I need some alone time or I'm working on something," Samantha told Bored Panda.
"They don't always respect those boundaries. My daughter is a stage 3 clinger! But fresh air works wonders for us all."
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Temper tantrums aren’t something 'awful' that should be avoided at all costs. They’re a very natural part of childhood. And crying itself is a completely normal part of being a human being. No matter how ‘perfectly’ you parent, at some point, you’ll have to deal with a major meltdown. And there isn’t always a clear-cut reason why they’re upset and why the tears start rolling!
It’s important that you let your kids feel whatever they’re feeling, instead of instantly distracting them. Being in touch with your emotions is an essential part of being an emotionally intelligent adult later on.
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Kids are slowly developing their self-regulation, emotional resilience, and reasoning skills, so you can’t expect them to behave like super polite and highly rational adults all the time. That’d be naive. We also shouldn’t forget about how many adults throw tantrums as well, even though they should know better!
We all have our little breakdowns from time to time. There’s nothing embarrassing about it, even though we might feel uncomfortable later on remembering how we behaved. You cry. You feel what you feel. You move on.
According to Dr. Ashanti Woods, a pediatrician working at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center, there are some common age-related reasons why your child might be crying. The expert explained to Healthline that toddlers between 1 and 3 years of age tend to cry because they’re tired, frustrated, embarrassed, or confused.
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Meanwhile, preschoolers between 4 and 5 years old might cry when they get physically or emotionally hurt.
Older kids, ages 5 and up, might start bawling because they get injured or lose something special. However, the specifics will always differ depending on the family in question, the particular circumstances, and the individual child. And just because we’re older doesn’t mean that ‘basic’ things like being tired don’t affect us. They’re often more important than we think.
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Whatever the specific situation might be, parents ought to go through a quick mental checklist of the most likely explanations for why their munchkins are crying so hard that every passer-by is looking at them. First of all, consider that your kid might simply be hungry. (This applies to us adults, too! We can be pretty cranky when we’re famished.) Having a secret snack stash wherever you go is a must.
Next, consider whether your child might be feeling pain or discomfort. Maybe they’re too hot or too cold or they’ve got a stomach ache or some other parts of their bodies hurt.
Obviously, the older your kid, the more they’ll be able to vocalize how they feel (and what the possible reasons behind those feelings might be). But you should still be proactive and ask a few questions about what might be causing them discomfort.
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In our experience, something that most often helps no matter how bad our mood is taking a nap. Sleep fixes a lot of things. And the world seems brighter after a quality snooze. If you notice that your child is extra cranky and unable to regulate their emotions anymore, they might need some rest.
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Something else to consider is how your child spends their time. If they’re constantly glued to screens—phones, tablets, the computer, the TV—then you’ve got a problem. They’re probably extremely overstimulated. Your role as a parent is to step in and draw some healthy boundaries when it comes to tech use. Cartoons, video games, and music are all awesome. But too much of a good thing is going to have adverse effects.
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Broadly speaking, children under the age of 2 should not be sitting in front of screens at all. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that exceptions can be made for video chatting with relatives.
Any media that toddlers consume ought to be supervised by adults. Meanwhile, kids between the ages of 2 and 5 should only consume up to an hour of screen time per day. This should also be supervised.
When your kids are between 5 and 8 years old and no longer preschoolers, some experts suggest that the parents or guardians determine how much or little screen time they get. There is no clearly set recommendation because the circumstances will differ from family to family. So a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t work. What’s vital is that parents talk to their kids about the healthy use of technology as they grow older. There’s a whole world to explore, fun skills to develop, and people to meet outside of screens.
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Which of these temper tantrum tweets (or, well, X’s now…) cracked you up the most, dear Pandas? What’s the strangest reason for a meltdown you’ve seen or heard about? How do you personally deal when faced with a massive tantrum? Be sure to share your thoughts with all the other readers in the comments!
For some more bizarre but funny tantrum stories, consider looking through Bored Panda’s earlier lists.
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