“In one of the toddler parenting books I read, the author mentioned that she and her husband used the hurricane rating system to rate their toddler’s tantrums. We are so there.

AJ graces me with about 10 “”category one”” tantrums a day. (He collapses on the ground and cries for less than 5 minutes then moves on with his life with no input from me.) These can be brought on by the fact that his lunch is too warm or he’s not allowed to play with my sewing scissors or I have to take actual time to pour him a glass of milk or a million other little frustrations in his day.

AJ is a pretty good-natured child and “”category two”” tantrums come only two to three times a week. These tantrums usually come when I’ve pushed back nap time or meal time or both. These category twos require distraction from me, but they end quickly once he gets to his crib or yummy food in his hand or is otherwise distracted.

Category Threes are a special treat reserved just for Sunday when church creates a tired and hungry child. Then, even though he’s hungry, he won’t eat ’cause he’s tired and he won’t sleep ’cause he’s hungry, and it requires a new level of parenting skills to meet his needs.

So far, no category fours or fives yet, but I imagine they’re in my future. Of course, when a tantrum happens in public, that automatically bumps it up a level. (so far not a frequent occurrence, thank goodness) Fun Fun Fun….

According to the books, I only have about 2 years until I hit the eye of the storm (ages 4-12), then the storms will return and the storm swell will be with them. At least by then I’ll be a wise and experienced parent, right? right?

On another random note, AJ just asked for his third banana of the morning… toddlers do have weird eating habits, but that’s a whole ‘nother post. ”