All He Wanted was a Cookie!

When my son turned 4, he decided it was time to show me how much he could tantrum. It wasn't long before he came to the realization that the tantrums he had in public affected me more than the ones he had in the privacy of our home.

One day, I gook him with me to do some grocery shopping. I always dreaded taking him along because he tended to beg for everything he saw. On the way into the store, he asked me if he could have a free cookie from the bakery which they always had for the children. I told him that if he behaved himself in the store, I would let him have a cookie.

Well, as soon as we got inside, he started begging for this toy and that treat. He would not keep his hands off of anything, and when I called him on it, he began to whine about it.

When we passed the bakery section, he demanded his free cookie. I told him he could not have one because he had not behaved himself. At that moment, he threw himself face down on the floor and let out an ear piercing scream. I chose to ignore him and keep walking, praying he would stop if he thought I was unaffected.

It was then that I heard him say, "You NEVER feed me" in a loud, pitiful voice. I glanced behind me and he was still on the floor, just pulling himself along as if too weak to stand. He kept crying and sayig "You NEVER feed me" over and over again.

I have to admit, he could have won an Academy Award with his performance. He even made me start to feel guilty, and I hadn't done anything! To make matters worse, onlookers were giving me the evil eye as if I was the most horrible, neglectful mother in the world.

I truly didn't know what to do. What I feltlike doing would not have endeared me to the onlookers, so I turned...looked at him and said, "Get up now".

He stopped, looked up at me with tears streaming down his adorable little face and said, "Why don't you ever feed me, Mommy?"

At this point, I knew I had to leave before somebody called Child Protective Services. I just gave the onlookers a little smile and a helpless shrug, and scooped him up and headed out of the door, leaving my groceries in the buggy.

It wasn't funny at the time, but it is now one of my favorite stories to tell about him. He also loves to tell it. He's 17 now and gets a kick out of hearing about his antics as a tantrum thrower.