Listen lady who we call “Nanny” and who Mummy has abandoned me to whilst she goes and does something much less important than looking after me, I’m not eating that mushy nonsense even if you tie a ribbon around it and dance a jig whilst you spoon feed me, making plane noises. Yeah I’m having a difficult day and thoroughly enjoying it. Hey I don’t think I’m being naughty, somedays’ the crazy baby in me has to come out. So let me update you a little a bit about the going ons. Since something called a school has started and the parents feel that Big Sister needs to be educated, yeah whatever folks, I worry about that kid, I caught her the other day trying to catch her own shadow…I mean really that ain’t mensa material Mum whatever you think.

So anyways, the mother dearest feels that NOW she has to spend most of her time with HER. Whatabout me, her delightful, breath of fresh air, the last of her litter, the one who does wonders to her heart, the own who puts on an extra pair dimples just for her. Yeah, all that my mother’s forgotten and has recklessly abandoned to the care of this frightful woman the nanny. Therefore when I woke this morning, I was feeling quite amiable, felt like break into a song as I thought about seeing Mummy early in the morning..Pharrell’s HAPPY just in my head, but then SHE appeared, “Mummy’s taken your sister to school darling, so here I am, we’re going to have lots of fun”. Stop the tape, real the beat in..I thought WHAAT!!!...it’s just at that crucial moment people that I turned, despite what Obi-one knobi told Luke in Star Wars the dark side got the better of me.

Thus first I screamed in her face for a good ten minutes until I could see tiny bubbles of sweat just bursting out of her head trying to pacify me. She sing songed me into breakfast, whilst I added the back up vocals by screaming all the way. Momentarily I stopped for a minute when I thought she was going to break and give me sugary cereal, nope there came the red mush..and my dark side came back with a vengeance, first bowl was thrown across the kitchen wall….did I just make a Monet, evil Nanny. The red of the mush mixing in with mum’s much coveted wallpaper gives the artistically flair of a future possible Rembrandt in the making. Anyways you get the picture, people, I ate the soap during the bath, nanny almost called emergency services…refused to put on any clothes, stayed butt naked for a couple of hours..and of course forget the napping Sister..yeah my dark side had a good day today, until next time.

What is a temper tantrum?

Temper tantrums range from whining and crying to screaming, kicking, hitting, and breath holding. They're equally common in boys and girls and usually occur between the ages of 1 to 3.Kids' temperaments vary dramatically — so some kids may experience regular tantrums, whereas others have them rarely. They're a normal part of development and don't have to be seen as something negative. Unlike adults, kids don't have the same inhibitions or control.Several basic causes of tantrums are familiar to parents everywhere: The child is seeking attention or is tired, hungry, or uncomfortable. In addition, tantrums are often the result of kids' frustration with the world — they can't get something (for example, an object or a parent) to do what they want. Frustration is an unavoidable part of their lives as they learn how people, objects, and their own bodies work.

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is normal in families with more than one child. It becomes a problem when one child bullies or dominates the other. It's also a more complex issue than it first appears. On the surface, you have two kids who are “at war”—who bicker constantly and don’t get along. There can be many reasons for this, but at the core of this rivalry is a common theme that runs through it all: the sense that one sibling is the victim of the other and somehow “less than.” And that child often believes that he gets less love from his parents than his dominant brother or sister does.

The bond between mother and child

With the cutting of the umbilical cord, physical attachment to our mothers ends and emotional and psychological attachment begins. While the first attachment provides everything we need to thrive inside the womb, many psychologists believe the second attachment provides the psychological foundation and maybe even the social and physical buffer we need to thrive in the world.Psychologists' research shows that the quality of care infants receive affects how they later get along with friends, how well they do in school and how they react to new, and possibly stressful, situations.Many researchers have found correlations between secure mother-infant attachment and later psychological and social development. Infants who securely attach to their mothers become more self-reliant toddlers and have a better sense of self-esteem, said Alan Sroufe, PhD, an attachment researcher at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

By Mayuri Jayasinghe