Moodle's First Honest-to-Goodness Tantrum

Moodle and I had a big weekend. Apparently, it was a little too big. I'm going to describe all the not-tantrum-y parts, because I'd like to show you how many opportunities for bad behavior she skipped, choosing instead to unload them in one massive display.

On Saturday, we checked out a local gymnastics gym that has open play in the morning. Moodle was a little intimidated by the huge room and all the stuff. When a few of her friends from daycare showed up, she relaxed and finally started playing. I got a great workout just by playing myself, showing her all the fun stuff she could do. And I peed my pants a little while jumping on the trampoline. I love getting old.

The parents of one of her friends (we'll call him LaLa) invited us and the other kids we knew over the next afternoon for some playtime. Score! This is our first invite, and I like the kid, so I was excited.

Then Moodle skipped her nap. Determined to wear her out, we dashed back to the Children's Museum, and had a blast playing Legos and Mr. Potato Head. She had fun, but chickened out of riding a horsie on the carousel again. Next time, maybe.

We grabbed some fast food in town (chili and chicken nuggets), while Moodle flirted with an older gentleman, and headed home to a peaceful bedtime. No tantrum yet. Be patient, it's coming.

Moodle slept fine, and the next morning, we headed out shopping. Before we got going, I bought her an apple, which kept her occupied in the cart for almost the whole trip, and a strawberry rounded us out through checkout. No tantrum yet, just wait.

Good nap, then we headed to our playdate. Moodle had a great time playing for 3 hours with LaLa, and her other friends, Mondo and Eggles. They ate fruit and splashed in water and read books and played trains. All the kids were on their best behavior, and the kids and parents alike had a lovely visit. I was excited to have some grown-ups to talk to, even though we were just starting out, and most of the conversation was about our kids. Wait for it, it's coming.

We got safely home, and I got dinner on the table quickly, but it was clear Moodle was overtired. Everything was a struggle, including things she liked. She ate fine, but was getting super cranky. I decided to try to head it off at the pass, and drew her bath an hour early. But every little bump or touch was setting off the water works.

Bath time was mildly bad. She slipped a little, and some water splashed on her face, so she bawled and clung to me over the side of the tub. But eventually she was clean, the bubbles were gone, and we got out. And she brushed her teeth with a only mild amount of resentment.

Then things just got confusing. She wanted to sit on the potty, but cried sitting on the potty. She screamed like I was beating her while I brushed her hair, even though there were no knots. She regarded the diaper as a torture device. She seemed scared of the dog, who was resting at a safe distance and trying to stay out of the drama. But eventually we were dressed, and we retired to the bedroom for stories.

And then, BOOM (here's the tantrum). She flopped on her pillow pet and lost it. All of it. Screaming, kicking, flailing at nothing, flopping, and crying. Thank goodness I had been reading the book, and knew to just let it run its course. For 15 minutes, all the bad behavior she had been holding back all weekend poured forth in a frothy rage. I sat a little ways away and let her do it, taking deep breaths and reminding myself there was nothing I could do until she was done.

When she finally stopped beating up the air and was sobbing sadly, face down in her pillow, I gently started rubbing her back, and reading the silliest book we had out loud. Eventually, she climbed into my lap, still crying, and sniffled and hiccuped through two more books.  When I pulled out the last book we read every night, she starting wailing again, but settled back to crying softly when I read it in a whisper. She barely managed a hug as I put her in her crib, and whispered our nighttime stuff. She cried for 10 minutes, a long time for her, and finally fell asleep.

Once the noise subsided, I poured myself a large glass of wine, and watched Storage Wars until Max Powers called to chat. I relived the drama for him, but I'm not sure I did it justice. This account was much more detailed.

Spring Fever

Last night, both Fat Dog and Moodle were bitten with some kind of bug. The kind of bug that comes out the first time of the year it stays warm into the evening. The kind of bug that comes out after we spring forward, and daylight hangs on until almost toddler bedtime.

Moodle and I had to head to Walmart because she pooped on her shoes at daycare, and she didn't have any other play shoes in her size. She giggled, played, and flirted with everyone she saw. When we got home, it was still light, and still warm. She didn't want to play in the backyard, so we spent 20 minutes climbing up and down the stairs to our front porch, and running in circles in the driveway. I offered to get her some toys, but she didn't need them.

When we headed inside, Fat Dog seemed to have the same idea. While Max Powers took over playing with Moodle, I headed to the fenced-in backyard for some playtime with pooch. One of our hillbilly neighbors had his pitbull off-leash (!!!!), and it came over to sniff our hyper beagle through the fence. It marked said fence while Fat Dog freaked out, helpless to save her precious fence from the stench of pitbull pee. Then she chased her flying squirrel toy for 15 minutes, working through her outrage.

Nuclear Man from Superman IV

But the outside time didn't seem to drain either of them. Apparently, they are either plants or Nuclear Man, and run on sunlight. Because then we had a 20 minute marathon of dog and toddler running through the house, playing tag or chase or some other unintelligible game that they both seemed to love, and could not be stopped.

Add it up, ladies and gentlemen. Dinner ended at 6:20. Trip to Walmart: 1 hour. Front yard play: 20 minutes. Backyard play: 20 minutes (including 5 minutes of dog freak-out). Indoor play: 20 minutes.  That makes it 8:20, and time for bed. But Motoring Moodle is still going, and doesn't even have her PJs on. Usually by this time of night, we are well into books and snuggles.  What the heck is going on?

Damn you, Spring Fever!

We managed to round up Moodle, get her in PJs, and onto a lap for story time. I ended up having to lock the dog in our bedroom so they would stop the crazy positive-feedback loop. She ended up in bed after a few stories, and going to sleep just fine, only a few minutes late.

Afterward, Max Powers and I realized it was funny, and we were lucky to have an active kid with a great pet friend like Fat Dog.

But then I couldn't get to sleep, either. Damn you, Spring Fever!


edit: ps...Our family lives 20 minutes from Walmart, and it's the closest place to get stuff like that. It didn't take very long to pick out new sneakers. This should also explain our hillbilly neighbors. We have several of them.

pps...This was all after a full day at daycare, where she also played outside and they did their damndest to wear her out.

ppps...I am still exhausted from my bout with the flu last week, and I STILL couldn't get to sleep. Damn you Spring Fever!