Smart Three Year Old Tantrum

When my middle child was about three years old I had her at a local shopping center to get a few groceries. She was still in the stage of trying to cry to get her way. I was determined not to give in and not to become a hermit in my home to avoid the scenes she created. We had gotten a few things and we were in the checkout line and she wanted candy. I said no and she started to cry. I tried to ignore her but she got louder and louder.

I was getting frustrated so I picked her up to hug her tightly and let her know she was going to get a spanking in the car if she didn't stop making so much noise. She started screaming as loud as possible that I wasn't her mom and that I was hurting her.

The thing is we are an interracial family and she looks like her dad. She has deep brown skin and tight curly brown hair. I on the opposite end of the spectrum have light red hair and painfully pale skin. She had heard the questions from people asking me if I had adopted her and she was a smart three year old.

We had told her and her older sister if anyone, meaning a bad grown up, ever tried to take either of them, it was okay to kick and scream and bite. We had told them to be as loud as possible to gain the attention of good grown-ups. Well I guess she considered me a bad grown up that day and wanted to gain the attention of a good grown up - one that would get her the candy she so desperately wanted.

Thank God we were in a store where the clerks knew me a little. So her tantrum only embarrassed me to pieces and the police did not have to get involved.