h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think we may have a movement going here.

There was a winning video on America's Funniest Video's a couple of years ago that was rather enlightening regarding the subject of bawling brats.

It shows a toddler, on the floor, wailing hir lungs out. Then the father, (holding the camera) steps away behind a wall. The brat stops bawlling, gets up, follows the father and once in view, crumples to the floor and proceeds to scream and thrash again. The father again retreats around another corner and repeats this series a few more times, each time the child knows zi is being observed zi crumples, wails and thrashes.

If a baby cries and no one is there to hear it, it stops.

Works for toddlers sometimes, but not for babies. The other problem with those kind of 'atypical' approaches to a tantrum is that they can be quite difficult to implement in public...

sprout

oh I don't know - my #2 was having a meltdown in a supermarket (we were at the checkout, I had bought gummi bears and they were in the trolley but she wanted some from the checkout counter) - she had a full-on "throw yourself on the floor and beat around with hands and feet while shrieking" attack.

I just pointed and laughed, then someone else laughed and she hates that more than anything so she stopped

I'll have to remember that.

Mr603 (courtesy of swl) on the FP today