My angry baby.

Trying to take a cute photo, in the midst of a public tantrum.

The older Linna gets, the more she can get into. She loves opening closets and taking out all the clothes, taking all of her diapers off the shelf, and throwing all of her toys into the empty bath tub. However, there are some things she tries to get into that she shouldn't be, so we've been starting to use the word "NO" a lot in the Saigh household. Linna does NOT like the word "NO".

When we tell Linna "NO", she does one, two, or all three of the following:

1. Throws her body backwards, acting as if we just ruined her entire life.
2. Tries to grab/pinch our faces (this really hurts).
3. Has a complete meltdown on the floor (the public displays of this are always award-winning).

She will normally only do these things when she is tired. When we do tell her "NO", we direct her attention to something else. When she does the "face grabbing/pinching", we take her hand away, say "NO", and then show her a "gentle touch". The other day, she actually bit my mom! She has never bit anyone before. The public tantrums and meltdowns are the worst, and I now totally understand why some parents just "give in" and give their kid whatever they want in the middle of a public tantrum. I've done this so we don't make a "scene", but I do not want to become "that parent". This parenting stuff is tough!

I'm sure Linna is just frustrated because she isn't using her words yet, and she just wants to communicate with us. However, I am a firm believer in "laying down the law" when it comes to my kid. Linna needs to know who is boss (us, not her), but I also don't want to be telling her "NO" all the time. I refuse to become the parent that yells at their kid all the time, so AJ and I make sure not to "yell" at Linna if she does something wrong. We simply say "NO" in a deeper voice, and redirect her attention to something else, OR explain to her why she can't do what she was doing.

Discipline is a hard thing for us to grasp as new parents. I'm hoping this "temper issue" Linna has is just a phase, and she learns how to accept the word "NO". People weren't joking around when they say how much it sucks to be the "bad guy".