To That Mom In The Store With  The Child Throwing A Tantrum

Ever been in a store and your child completely melts down? Like the ultimate tantrum?!

Outsiders think, what the hell is wrong with that kid? OR If I had a kid they would NEVER behave that way. OR That child is such a spoiled brat.

While some of these assumptions may be true, they were not true for me. My kid simply decided after she gave me the ice pops to ring up at self checkout she actually wasn’t ready to give them up just yet and lost it.

Here is the story:

The night before was the 4th and Izzy was afraid of the fireworks… duh she’s 2!

So we let her stay up and snuggled her while watching Mickey Mouse to ease her anxiety.

Well she may have slept in a tiny bit longer than normal, but not much. Missed sleep in a toddler…. um recipe for disaster.

I took Izzy to the grocery store, as I always do. She runs all my errands with me.

She was doing well shopping, no tantrum or misbehavior in sight. When we went to snag her & daddy’s favorite ice pops she asked to carry the box. I told her it was cold, but she insisted.

I figured, what the heck… sure!

We got to the self check out and I started ringing up our food. I had 4 items left and Izzy asked me to ring up the ice pops. So I said, “Are you sure? Mommy is going to scan them, then they are going in the bag.” She pushed the box further to me and said, “Mommy scan ice pops.”

I scanned the damn ice pops, bagged them and then all hell broke loose.

Izzy immediately threw herself to the floor crying and yelling, “icccce pops”. Being a teacher and having worked with behaviors, I told her to get off the floor and stand up.  “Izzy the floor is dirty and yucky, stand up please.” I continued scanning more products and then Izzy got up and started hitting my leg.

Ignore the behavior, I kept telling myself. But I was really starting to get embarrassed. There was a long line and my short turn at the self checkout was turning into a LONG one.

Can I just say I take pride in how quickly I can check out with 10+ items compared to someone with 3?

Anyway… Izzy then grabbed the bags off the weighted area and the food in them went all over the floor. Cans were rolling around. NO ONE CAME OVER TO HELP! I cleaned up the floor while now holding Izzy in one arm. I finished scanning my last items as Izzy now decided to start hitting me in the face.

By the way, it’s not easy to one handed catch two little fits rapid fire smacking you in the face.

So I finally finished checking out and left.

I was absolutely humiliated!

I came home & my husband, who was working from home, happened to be downstairs. He came out to the garage to help me carry in groceries.

I burst into tears and told him Izzy had the WORST tantrum ever and was hitting me in the face in public.

He took Izzy in and spoke to her while I collected myself putting groceries away.

I was back and on forth on writing and publishing this, but I hope it helps someone feel less embarrassed when it happens to them.

So to the mom in the store with the child throwing a tantrum, I can relate. You are not alone and should not feel like you haven’t done your job as a mother. Kids are constantly testing, kids get tired and cranky like us. They just don’t care and are not embarrassed by acting a fool in public. They slowly have to be taught social norms and how to deal with their emotions. This is definitely not something to be mastered by 2.

Most importantly take a beep breath!

XO Eryka