Something to cry about?

As parents we are taught to ignore our children's tantrums and not give into this attention seeking behaviour.

During my sister's visit we were enjoying a relaxing afternoon outside snacking on triple cream brie and watching Spencer enjoy the warm afternoon sunshine whilst playing in his tree house.

All of a sudden our peaceful afternoon was interruped by Spencer's intrusive and bellowing voice having decided to scream about something.

Like most of his tantrums I can't even remember what brought this one on but as my sister was already taking photos of Spencer, managed to take a few shots of him during and after his tantrum.

The first photo is of him in full flight of his tantrum. At this stage he was opening and closing the door on his tree house and slamming it angrily and stomping around the yard.

The second shot is sulky Spencer. I don't know what he's thinking at this stage of his tantrum but I'd like to think he's feeling a bit silly about his behaviour and perhaps regretting becoming angry and so fired up.

The last two photos are after the tantrum has passed and I have my happy little Spencer back. It's amazing to see how quickly his tantrums pass and how he can go from being almost manic with frustration and anger to happily smiling and wanting hugs and kisses and saying "I really sorry mummy".

I think I'll stick the first and last shots on our fridge so next time Spencer has one of his "moments" I can look at the photo, have a giggle to myself and know that within a minute or two normality, and my happy little boy, will soon return!