A Healthy Way to Process Anger

It seems Henry has learned something that took me 32/33 years and countless therapy sessions to realize.  Actually, it’s a work in progress for me, still.  I’d say 90% of the tantrums occur when we are coming or going—transitions are a real bitch.  We were getting ready to leave for the morning, and the screaming started. Henry pulled his placemat out from underneath his dirty dishes and they broke into a million pieces.  He stopped for a second to look at the mess, looked up at me and said, “I’m frustrated, Mama!”  I asked him what we do when we’re frustrated and first he went and hit the door and cried even harder because it hurt.  But then he remembered and went to the couch and started hitting the pillows.  I joined in and then he looked at me and started laughing.  And we had a truly awesome rest of the morning.

Thanks, Carrie and Bernadette!