tantrums

Between our being mostly housebound and her father's long hours at work, Eliza's tantrums have increased in length and intensity these last couple weeks. Most of the time, there's no trigger as far as I can see, and when there is a discernible cause, it's so odd. Here are two examples:

She asked for a pickle. What did I do? I handed her the pickle she had asked for (silly me), which was immediately thrown on the floor and declared "yucky!" She started walking away and was completely indifferent to the pickle's fate until I threw it in the trash. She threw herself on the kitchen floor only to bump her head hard, so her screaming intensified turning her face crimson. Often holding her will help her calm down, but not that day - it made her even more angry. So she screamed herself hoarse for a good 20 minutes on the family room carpet until her throat hurt so much she could only croak. All I could do was sit next to her helplessly - any attempt to make contact infuriated her. When she finally regained her composure, she curled into my lap, nestling her head against my shoulder to read a few books.

One of yesterday's tantrums was set off by Legos. You know the little Lego men? Eliza thought they'd be better off without pants. Great. The only problem is that the pants don't come off, which I tried to explain to no avail - she went off the deep end.

She's a good egg, a wonderful little person, and it makes me sad to see her so frustrated.