We had to go to Toys R' Us to get a booster seat to take with us on our summer travels. In order to get to the booster seat aisle, we had to go through the toy aisles, including the aisle with all of the scooters and toys with wheels. As we walked past the display, Charlie spotted a Radio Flyer scooter. He grabbed onto it and kept trying to push it around in the display packaging. It wasn't working, so he screamed about it. I took it away and put it back on the shelf and he screamed about that, too. I picked him up to carry him over to the booster seat aisle and that resulted in even more screaming. Screaming, crying, tears, snot, the whole nine yards. He pulled the disappearing armpit act and collapsed in a puddle of sob on the floor in the middle of the toy store. Now we were starting to attract attention. I kept picking him up and trying to make my way out. Every time I would get a good grip on him he would slip through again and throw himself on the floor, kicking and screaming. It was quite a scene. I decided to just let him stay there while we picked out a seat. Once Husband Charlie and I had agreed on a seat, I picked up Toddler Charlie, carried him lengthwise across my chest, and left the store, feeling the judging eyes of the other parents boring holes in my back.
Oh, the joys of being "that parent."
Maybe next time we'll try something like this.
Ugh... I hate those moments. Good for you not giving into his tantrum though.
ReplyDeleteDavis has already begun the disappearing arm act at home when we pick him up to take him away from something he is not supposed to be into. I hate it!! How do such little people know how to do that??
ReplyDeleteAhhh... I am crossing my fingers that FireGirl's flat-on-the-floor tantrum at Frisch's will be her one & only public tantrum. Hey - a girl can dream, can't she?
ReplyDeleteThat armpit thing KILLS me. My older two didn't do it, but my youngest has become the master. It drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteYou're bringing back memories I'd quite successfully repressed of dragging my youngest by the ankle as he lay on the floor in tantrum mode through the local shopping centre. (Having given up on trying to pick him up.)
ReplyDeleteFortunately this tactic almost always ended up in laughter because really, there's quite a bit to laugh at in either being dragged or doing the dragging. But for some reason it took me many, many iterations to figure out that I didn't have to wait till complete melt-down had been achieved before employing the tactic.
I swear though, once I had figured that out, being dragged across the tiles became his preferred mode of travel for a while.