If your angel's crying jags make your ears bleed, consider the technique deployed by these cagey parents. Though they don't profess to be experts, when their little Scarlett loses it, they found that distracting her with a simple question quashes her tears virtually every time.
According to an article in the Toronto Star, a home video showing the tot's amazing response time and again has been viewed on YouTube more than 4.7 million times in a matter of days.
“[Scarlett's] a very active, talkative, silly, animated and affectionate one-year-old,” said dad Kosal Sen. “... Considering she's a baby, I would say the amount she cries is quite normal.”
And when she does cry, her parents have found that simply asking her, “What does a cow say?” will usually stop her in her tracks. In fact, the power of 'moo' seems to get her every time.
“My wife and I have been around children all our lives. ‘Distraction’ and ‘removal-from-the-situation’ has [sic] always been tools we used during tantrums,” said Sen.
Of course Sen and his wife had no clue that their trick would strike parenting gold. They are quick to point out that the distraction method doesn't work every single time, nor would they employ it in situations where their daughter was hurt or seriously upset.
“If a jackal bit her, I would not ask her to moo. When she's really hurt or upset, she gets lots of hugs and kisses.”
True, and what works for a one year old patently does not work on older kids, who wise up quick. If anyone knows how to curb a four year old's tantrum, I'm all ears...
If it feels like you're entered the realm of toddler hell, remember that it probably only feels that way. Get the reality check on meltdowns and tantrums.
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