How is it that every baby comes into this world with the notion that if they cry, you will move. I watched a small baby today cry and every time the parent picked the child up, the child would stop crying. Then as soon as she laid the baby back in the carrier, it would began to cry again. So, I watched a yoyo match between a baby and a mother. The baby was learning that all it had to do was cry and the mother would do exactly what it wanted; and the mother, I guess was learning that the baby had more control than she.
I wanted to say, "If you let him or her lay there, they will soon understand that yelling does not make you comply to their demands! Instead I watched wishing I had the desire to record what I was watching. So often I run into adults who scream when things don't go their way, and this reminds me of that baby. Maybe their parents gave them the complete notion that if you scream, you'll get your way and it's carried into adulthood.
Well when my kids were babies, only my middle child would have the scream fits. I really didn't know how to handle her because she was truly driving me nuts. Then we were on our way back to Japan and I had to stay at my cousin's in Houston. My cousin came in one night and she was having a hissy fit. She politely took her and carried her to the room and said, if you let me handle her you will never go through this again. She put the child on the bed and said, in this house you will not cry to get your way. You will ask for what you want and when your mother says no, you will sit down and say yes ma'am. She was only two years old but I promise she must have understood everything that was said to her.
Nevertheless, although she didn't do it as a child she waited until she became a teenager. I would see the same two year old who was driving me nuts. Then one day I determined that God put me back in the same position so I could do it this time and trust me I did. She threw a fit and I let her finish and still said no. When she saw that it was no longer about her, she matured. At that point I regained my control because as long as you need me to supply your needs, I'm in control.
So remember, if you don't take control now you will definitely have to do it later.
