Thoughtful Thursday: Anger

Do you know anger is a good, healthy emotion?

When I first had Jeremiah... his temper was through the roof.. once he reached an age where he could express it physically.. and man oh man was it interesting. He would throw things, bang his head, throw himself on the floor, break things.. scream, shout, spit, kick, bite... sometimes trash a whole room out of anger. But this was all due to the fact he wasn't talking-- and was not able to express himself verbally at all. 

I didn't catch the connection between him trying to express himself and the behaviour that I thought was bad.

I felt like the most crappiest mother of them all. How could I not even control my son's anger.. or even understand it?

Once I caught the connection I started to deal with it slowly but surely. Then when his speech started to progress little by little.. I started noticing big changes in his behaviour and how he expressed himself when he would get frustrated or angry.

There's still a way to go, but it has improved greatly. He still throws things.. he still shouts; but whn he shouts he will tell me 'Mummy, not happy!" which means he is upset about something.. and then cross his arms in frustration.

So knowing this.. I address the emotion to him and speak to him and then we go from there.

What a way Jeremiah has come, and I'm honestly so proud of him and how far he has progressed. I've also come to the conclusion he is very sensitive too which is why his emotions are so intense. So I've got some more work to do about that! (I'm also sensitive. lol)

The most frustrating thing I must say is not knowing how your child is feeling, and also not knowing what to do about it.. it makes you feel so useless.. so when you hit milestones like this, it's such a big reassurance.