think in the long term, think in the long term, think in the long term

Jake has entered into the dreaded world of tantrums.  If you tell him "no" or not to do something, he is likely to absolutely lose it.

His tantrums include 1 or both the following behaviors:
1. sit down, cover face, scream and cry until his face is as red as a tomato. (sometimes will throw himself back and hit his head on the ground, which results in a time out)
2. walk over to us and hit.

I ignore the first.  Just completely ignore it.  I walk away most of the time and busy myself around the house.  He'll follow, sit down, and repeat behavior each time I stop moving.  He does not like being ignored, but he'll learn that pitching a fit is not how to get things done.

The hitting results in an immediate time out.  Somehow, he will sit in one spot for Ms. Bea (she's magic, I tell you).  If he doesn't sit in one spot for us, then we put him in his crib for one minute or until he calms down (within reason). 

I can't decide whether or not it is funny that 95% of his tantrums are over the fact that he wants a snack when it's not snack time.   He melts down almost every time snack time is over.  And, if he decides at a random point in the day that he wants a snack, he'll walk over to his snack cabinet and point.  The answer is no if it's not snack time.  Big 'un is far from starving and we just can't have him snacking all the live long day.    (i'm not such a stickler when we're away from home or if we're off schedule otherwise)

I hate seeing him so upset and the wants of a toddler are so small that it's tempting to just let him have what he wants, especially after a long day, but, like my dad said once not long ago, the end result of a self disciplined person is worth making the correction or saying "no" every single time you need to.  every time.

I think we all strive to live in the moment and enjoy each day with eachother and our children, but there are times when it just makes more sense to think in the long term.

It's not about a harmless snack or standing too close to the tv or playing with expensive things which are, most decidedly, not toys.  It's about raising the kind of person we want Jake to become.

Obviously, there are times when I give in and times when I lose sight of the bigger picture and I know this resolve will become even more difficult to maintain over the next couple of years as we face new challenges as parents, so I pray that I'll, at least the majority of the time, be able to remember what's important.