Temper tantrums, Emotional storms Introduction to tantrums: When
your child kicks and screams at not getting his way, the
outburst often seems to come at the least opportune times:
during grocery shopping, when you’re on the phone, when you’re
trying to get out the door, trying to make dinner, or at a
family gathering. What are tantrums? Temper tantrums are
expressions of intense, immediate frustration. They occur most
frequently at an age when children’s verbal skills are
inadequate to express their roiling emotions. Gradually, after a
child has mastered walking, an irresistible urge to make his own
choices begins to well up inside him. This is an exciting
development, but to make an independent choice he must disagree
with you in order for the choice to be his own. Now, when you
ask him to do something, part of him wants to please you, but
part of him wants to refuse. Many people call this important
phase of development the “Terrible Twos.” I prefer to call it
“The First Adolescence.” This period begins lon