Screaming and throwing things .....

I'm sure this is a common phase but I'm just not having any luck dealing with the I.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. screaming and the constant throwing of toys/food/sip cups.

The boys will just scream for the fun of it and it seems to be happening A LOT at the dinner table. They sit across from each other and just start screaming! Izak has such a high pitched scream, it's beyond ear peircing; Aaden's is tolerable but definitely not acceptable. I have tried redirection when it happens away from the dinner table and for the most part that works but at the dinner table ... I'm at a loss. At this point, I just ignore it or walk away ... but it's getting harder cause it HuRTs my eArS!!! :headbang:

The throwing of toys/food/sip cups .. whatever .. is getting old too. We sternly say (as with the screaming) that throwing/screaming is not acceptable but they think it's incredibily funny. I do not. We redirect them but it's repeated constantly.

I'm just curious if anyone has found the magic or easy button on these issues/phases.

This too shall pass ..... but not before my ears bleed and I'm battered and bruised from flying forks and hurled toys.

Thanks!

 

Well, I hate to tell you but there are no easy answers or magic buttons. :tomato: These are both phases that will pass, but probably not soon enough!

As far as the screaming goes, someone here posted that they scream back! It makes it a game and everyone ends up laughing, which makes you feel better, and has the added benefit of stopping the screaming. I find that playing peek-a-boo, or finding a way to make my guys laugh helps too.

The throwing is what really gets my goat. I try so hard to stay calm and rational, but there's something about having a sippy cup launched at my head that really burns my bottom! :grr: My guys think it's really funny too. I try not to react, I say "no throwing" and give them 3 chances. The 3rd time they throw something (or the first time food or drink connects with my head) I take it away until they are calmer and are interested in eating. If it's near the end of the meal I call the meal done, and get them out of their high chairs. I also never allow anything but food at the table; no toys, books, loveys, etc. The table is about eating, not playing, in our house. :good:

It is starting to get better (at 22 months :faint: ) so take heart! The hardest thing to do is sometimes ignore or walk away from the bad behavior, but it's sometimes the best. My guys get 100 times worse when I react to certain things. Someday I'll tell you about the horrible gag-and-vomit-fest that ensued when I didn't follow my own advice..... :wacko: The trauma is still too fresh to talk about it right now! :lol:

 

My boys are in this stage too. And boy do they have a good arm. I'm trying to decide if we should do football or baseball. lol. As for the screaming, my boys both have an ear piercing scream. Sometimes I hear a ringing after they scream. My youngest daughter will just scream with them and they think it's hysterical. Not so much fun when you are in a crowded place. We are taking the family to Disney in August and our biggest fear is that they will want to do their screaming on the plane. As for the throwing we have learned to duck and dodge pretty goo. Or we give them things and a time they can throw. Like when they are playing with Daddy's action figures. They love to throw them off the bed and we let them do that. Kind of gets it out of their system. All this is to say like the PP said it's a phase. Since my boys are just beginning it and her's are near the end it sounds like I'm in for a deafening year. :banana:

 

It's a very fun phase :headbang: When my started the screaming we would sing. And there were times that I sang louder then they could scream, I'm sure it was a sight to be seen :rotflmbo: