You know the one where your child goes into full meltdown in a store and there is nothing you can do. I had my first experience of this today. I tried to keep my composure. I knew my options were limited. And here is how this story really starts …

We went out emergency shoe shopping today. Zane outgrew his sandals and the new summer clogs I bought him were hurting his little toes. So we were sandal-less and with the Fourth tomorrow I had to find him something.

I took pictures of some of the shoes we were looking at and I was going to post them but my stupid computer refused to cooperate. So just pretend you can you see the cute blue Carters strappy sandals and the cute little off-brands that had the little flashers on the side and the cheapy flip-flops that were very cute. I even had a cute pic of the flashing one on him as he ran up and down the aisles.

We ended up choosing the little flashing shoes and a pair of the cheapy flip-flops. After I made my decision I tried getting him back into the stroller . After being free for so long that was not going to happen easily. Zane went into full meltdown. He arched his back, started screaming, and cried real tears.

I knew I could try and bribe him into being good. I couldn’t opt to just leave the store, we needed those shoes. But I chose to ignore the behavior not doing anything special. I gave him love and told him I understood he was upset, but I didn’t make a big deal about his behavior one way or another. I just let him throw his tantrum as we stood in line to pay. I didn’t let him get out of the stroller as much as he wanted to. And by the time I was paying he had been able to calm himself down.

I don’t know if this was the right thing to do but it really was the only option I could come up with at the spur of the moment. And I think I did pretty good for my first experience with That One Mommy Moment.

Written by

Pepper Ferguson

Hi I'm Pepper. My family and I are sharing pieces of our lives.
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