Vacation is supposed to be a time of REST and ReLaXaTiOn right?!? I mean…really right?!? Well, not when you take 2 kids (4.5 and 1.5 years old…one having a fever and screaming the ENTIRE trip) and travel 12.5 hours. To say Ben and I were at each others throats was an understatement. I was amazed at how much 1 child could affect the way Ben and I treated one another. We were uptight, GRUMPY, on edge and ready to EXPLODE!!! I’m sure many of you can relate…
We decided it would be a fun adventure to visit Ben’s twin sister and her family who had recently moved to Georgia. Waking up the morning before we left, Delise, our youngest, had a fever of 103. I called the doctor and the office said that it was really up to me if I wanted to bring her in to be seen. I figured that it was something we could take her to urgent care when we got to GA if it didn’t break overnight. So…Georgia it was! We packed up the kids first thing in the morning and headed out.
The trip started out easy. Delise found herself drifting off to sleep before we hit Findlay (just 20 minutes into the trip). Annora was content coloring in her new princess coloring books and listening to The Wiggles on Pandora, and Ben was driving happily down the expressway. Ben and I sighed and settled ourselves in for the peaceful 9.5 hour drive about to begin….or so we thought!
Forty minutes into our trip and Delise awoke, started screaming, and didn’t stop screaming until, well, we got to Georgia. It ended up taking us 12.5 hours to get there and once there, the toddler temper tantrums continued…and continued, and CONTINUED! We were at a complete loss of what to do and why Delise was acting out so badly. I knew she didn’t feel the greatest so I showed some sympathy in the beginning days. As the week wore on, my sympathy started to dwindle and Ben and I were OVER IT! The only thing we knew we NEEDED to do, was be consistent with our discipline. Poor Delise ended up being in time out more than she wasn’t in time out. The park, the store, the restaurant, the puppet show, the house, the pool, etc. You name it, Delise probably spent a time out there. Unfortunately “time outs” became the theme that week.
The many times Delise was in time out while we were on vacation.
As we wrapped up the week and were packing to head home, we were emotionally drained and EXHAUSTED. Delise had taken the temper tantrum to a whole new level and the overwhelming feeling of defeat set in. I did what I do best in situations I am at a loss of what to do…I Googled it! What I found made me feel a deep sadness inside and I immediately called the doctor to discuss the issue.
I realized that maybe what Delise was displaying was much more than the usual toddler temper tantrum. I started to read the red flags of tantrums and realized that Delise displayed ALL of the red flags WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20071219/5-tantrum-red-flags) shared. I knew she had always been a difficult little one (since birth), but this started to set in that maybe there was a bit more to what was going on.
When we arrived at the doctor, I had a pit in my stomach that felt like maybe it was also in my throat. I was nervous and scared. We talked with the doctor and she agreed that maybe something more was going on. She asked us several questions and came to the conclusion that we needed to be more strict and use more restraining techniques when Delise goes into one of her fits. This broke my heart…mainly because what I was feeling was, in fact, true.
I was so glad that we made it a point to go to the doctor and have Delise’s behavior evaluated. Not only did it reinforce my thoughts and feelings, but it gave me concrete ideas and steps to take when she has one of her fits. By no means are we at the end of the road, but we certainly aren’t at the beginning anymore either. Life isn’t all about the destination but the journey that gets us there!
Our journey may be long but it will be done together!
1 Comment
Bev · July 12, 2016 at 11:38 am
So what suggestions did the doctor give you?