Blogger is back and so is my angel!

YAY! Blogger is back up! Thats the good news. The bad news? My newest post with tutorials on how our Mothers Day gifts (chalkboard/ribbon planters, key lime pie in a jar and exfoliating sugar scrub) were made was lost. That will teach me to make sure I back up my posts. So here's a sneak peek...you can look forward to them early next week:

Because I don't have the time today to re-write that post, and I don't have a husband around all weekend to vent to - you, my dear followers, get to listen to my rant! :) Don't you love me?

But, if this post proves to be too boring for you (sorry!) feel free to head on over to the Hubby's Blog where you'll be sure to get a good laugh!

Now, back to my rant....

I think it was yesterday, or maybe the day before, that I was sitting back basking in the fact that I RARELY have to discipline the Punkin in public for throwing tantrums. I believe I chuckled to myself as I thought "Wow, I have a really well-behaved, perfect, innocent, polite, do-no-wrong, little toddler!". I didn't dwell on the topic, simply let it roll through my thoughts and went back to what I was doing. Almost taking for granted that for the past 2 years she has, for the most part, been a little gem. Listens when we ask her to do something, knows what she can and cant touch, says thank you when something is handed to her, isn't moody, etc. Don't get me wrong she by all means knows how to throw one heck of a hissy fit but they are (or were) few and far between, and usually don't carry on for longer than a few minutes. Well, that thought jinxed me. Shame on me for having such a thought because today the inevitable hour long tantrum happened.

An ugly alien being took over my child for the better part of an hour in the grocery store. A harsh, infuriated, kicking, hitting, screeching, devil-horned, red headed alien.  Am I painting a pretty picture for you? Maybe this will help - picture a toddler in the grocery store sitting in the cart, looking all cute, smiling at the passers-by. Now, picture that same child, just with her head spinning and horns growing out of her pig-tails. Clenching her jaw and yelling "NO MOMMA!!!! GO AWAY!!!!!!" at the top of her lungs all because she didnt want me to physically touch the cart to push it. Or picture that same cute little red-head quietly holding onto a bunch of bananas that we had picked up, quietly counting how many there were. Then in an instant that same little red-head turns into one heck of a dodgeball player, and yup, chucks the bananas at an unsuspecting little old lady that was just trying to pick out pasta sauce. Or again, picture that sweet, perfect little doll pointing out eggs, milk and yogurt in the dairy aisle, you think shes behaving so you turn your back for a split second to grab sour cream, only to look back and find that she had grabbed one of the yogurts from the cart and stuck her fingers through the foil top and was beginning to finger paint her shirt! In that split second things went from bad to worse. Let the screaming commence...upon taking the yogurt away from her blood curdling screams of horror came out of her little body. Screams so bad you would swear...honestly I don't know what you would swear was happening, it was THAT bad. Hitting, kicking, and smacking anything she could reach. The looks that were shot my way from other people were enough to make me want to crawl into a hole. Nothing I did would calm her down. Normally I can slightly raise my voice, tell her that what shes doing is unacceptable and divert her attention onto something thats ok for her to do. Usually that almost instantly changes her attitude. This time - HA! None of the tricks I had up my sleeve worked. The screeching, screaming and flailing lasted all the way through the check out, to the car, and half way home. Then it was like someone flipped a switch, by the time we pulled in the driveway she was happy as a clam reading in the backseat. When I went around to the back door to unbuckle her I got that cute little smile and a "Hi, Momma!". My little angel was back where a few minutes before there was a fire breathing dragon. Totally amazing to me how fast a toddler can change their mood! She was more like a teenager in a toddlers body...boy am I in for it when shes 13!

So my question to other moms out there....how do you discipline your child in public? Do you discretely try to talk to them so other people can't hear you, use the shock and awe approach to get them to pay attention not caring if you cause a scene, ignore it and hope they stop, just walk out of the situation hoping a change of scenery will help? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Have a great weekend!

~Katie