Toddler Series

#14 Temper Tantrum

LIAM:

"Open up Emmy," Liam said, bring a piece of fruit to her mouth. She pushed her little lips together and shook her head. "Cookee," she whispered. "Fruit now," Liam corrected. Suddenly she frowned, her anger building up. She screamed and started cried, not wanting anymore. As her cries got louder, she kicked her legs against the highchair. "Ouch," Liam whispered, moving back and rubbing his leg. Amelia banged her little hands on the tray, getting angrier. "Emmy, sweet pea. It’s alright," he whispered, stepping back towards her. She calmed down a little and stared at him. "Cookee?" she sobbed, pointing to the jar on the kitchen counter. Liam looked over his shoulder and sighed. He knew she had to eat her fruit you had prepared, before eating anything else. "Daddy?" she whispered, bottom lip trembling. Liam looked back at her, his heart breaking at seeing his little girl like this. "Emmy, fruit first," he suggested and she shook her head again. Then Liam got an idea. "How about we eat it together, then we can both can have a cookie. How does that sound?" he said, brushing her light brown hair out of her face. She sniffed, a few tears escaping her eyes. "Banana for Emmy," Liam handed her a little piece and she ate it slowly. "Apple for daddy," he continued and ate a piece. Once the fruit was gone, he stood up and kissed her head. "Good girl Emmy. We ate all the fruit. Now you can have one cookie," he said, walking towards the cookie jar. He returned with a small cookie for his daughter. She squealed and took it happily, eating it with a smile on her face. Liam sat down and sighed; how was he going to last through more of these tantrums, he was wrapped around her finger and hated saying no to her.

LOUIS:

"Bath time my boy," Louis said to the little boy on his hip. He giggled and smiled at his father. "I added in lots of bubbles," he added. As he walked into the bathroom and knelt down by the bath tub, he begun undressing Noah. In that moment, something changed in Noah and he suddenly got angry. He stood up and pushed him away. Louis looked confused and reached out for him. "Need to take your diaper off before getting in the bath," he said, making Noah frown. "Mummy say no Noah bath," he yelled and ran as quickly as his little toddler legs would carry him out of the bathroom. Louis shook his head and stood up, following after his son. "Noah, come on little man. You need to have a bath," Louis called out, "mummy loves clean boys," he added, hopeful. Noah turned around and stared at Louis. "No Daddy, want mummy," he screamed, little face scrunching up and going red. Louis’ heart sunk; his mum had told him about temper tantrums but he hoped that Noah wouldn’t have them. "Hey hey," he cautiously stepped towards him. He wasn’t fast enough as Noah screamed and ran away again. Louis groaned in frustration and slowly walked after him. "What about dinosaurs in the bath?" Louis asked, shaking his head as he realised he was using dinosaurs to convince a toddler to take a bath. He picked up a plastic dinosaur along his way. "Dino-saws?" Noah whispered, thinking about it for a moment. Louis smiled and stood back, but wanting him to scream again. "Here little Tommo," he said. Noah squealed, quickly forgetting about his tantrum and grabbing his toy. Louis sighed deeply, picking up his little boy and walking back to the bathroom; deciding not to mention the word ‘bath’ again.

NIALL:

Cora stood up and dropped her doll, having had enough of playing with it. She smiled at her brother playing with his toy car. She wanted that car. Determination filled her little features, as she stepped towards him and took the car out of his small hands. Declan froze, blue eyes filling with tears as he watched Cora play with it. She pushed it along on the carpet, smiling to herself. His bottom lip trembled as tears fell down his cubby cheeks. Suddenly the house filled with his high pitch scream, then cries. Niall rushed into the living room, taking in the scene before him. He quickly knelt in front of Declan, trying to work out what was wrong. “Dec, hey hey little man,” he said, “what’s wrong? Shh, come on tell Daddy.” Declan took a breath and looked at Niall for a second, before stomping his little foot on the ground and crying loudly again. “Car car,” Cora said, making Niall look at her. His eyes widened as he realised she had Declan’s toy. He let go of his son and turned to her. “Corabear, give Dec the car back,” Niall whispered. His little girl looked up at him and shook her head, quickly stepping back. “Cora, did you take it off him when he was playing with it?” he continued, looking over his shoulder at the crying and stomping little boy. “There is another car you can play with,” he said, voice almost pleading with her. She threw the toy across the room and screamed, making Declan whimper. Niall sighed in frustration as both the twins were having a tantrum and he didn’t know what to do. He remembered what you told him, ‘distract them with something else. they will soon forget what happened.’ He spotted the toy box and looked through it. Once he found their building blocks, he started building a tower. “Who wants to help daddy?” he asked cautiously. Suddenly both of them were beside him, wanting to play with their father. Declan pick up a block and Cora took is from him. “No mine,” he said, reaching out for it. Niall sighed; he didn’t think twins would always be fighting with each other.

HARRY:

"Thank you for looking after her today Gem," Harry said to his older sister, kissing her cheek. She smiled and knelt down beside the little girl. "It was a pleasure. Did you have a good day with Aunty Gem?" she asked, earning a nod from Spencer. "Come on Angel, time to go home to mummy," Harry said, picking up Spencer’s backpack. "Bye bye princess," Gemma said, kissing Spencer’s cubby cheek and standing up. Harry gave Spencer his hand and she grabbed his finger, walking towards to the door. Suddenly she stopped and shook her head. "No, stay, Gem Gem," she whined, frowning. Harry bit his lip and looked at his daughter who only acted like this when she was tired. "Come on baby girl," Harry cooed, picking her up and sitting her on his hip, "time to go home." As he walked to the car, she started wiggling in his arms, her little arms pushing against his chest. "No daddy," she cried, getting angry. When Harry tightened his grip on her small body, she arched her back, making him gasp. He dropped her bag, as he wrapped both arms around her. "Spencer Anne," he said firmly, his heart beating faster as he hated being firm with her. She wiggled her body more, but he continued walking to the car. Gemma heard Spencer crying and ran outside, covering her mouth with her hand. "Harry, I’m sorry," she blurted out feeling guitly. Harry sighed as he finally managed to get her into the carseat. He closed the door and turned to face his sister. "She gets like this when she is tired. She will probably fall asleep in the car. Don’t blame yourself Gem," he said and got into the drivers seat. Spencer saw Gemma out of her window and reached out to her. Gemma smiled sadly and waved at her favourite niece, as Harry drove away.

ZAYN:

"Good boy K," Zayn encouraged, ruffling his son dark hair. Zayn picked Kaiden up out of the highchair and put him on the floor. "All full from lunch. Come on sleepy boy," he said, walking towards the nursery with the little boy following slowly him. As soon as they entered the nursery, Kaiden stopped and frowned. Zayn bent down to pick Kaiden up, but he dropped himself onto the ground, laying down in his stomach. Zayn sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Lately Kaiden hasn’t wanted to have his afternoon nap and due to Zayn being at work, you were usually the one to deal with it; not today though. "Come on buddy. You’re tired," he said, reaching out to touch the little body. Kaiden screamed and kicked his legs. "No sleep. No sleepy," he mumbled, frowning and kicking his legs again. Zayn took a deep breath and quickly scooped him up, carefully trying to put him in the crib. Kaiden stretched out, stiffening his arms and legs, not allowing Zayn to put him down. He screamed again, face turning red and tears filling his little hazel eyes. Zayn held him tightly to his chest as his cries turned to soft whimpers. "No sleep daddy," he whispered, shaking his head. "Kade, buddy," he whispered, "if you don’t want to sleep in the crib, how about a cuddle in mummy and daddy’s bed?" Kaiden sniffed and looked up, cheeks and eyes red. "Daddy is tired," Zayn faked yawned, making Kaiden smile and snuggled into his father’s chest. Zayn rubbed his back and walked towards the bedroom and laying him down. He held out his arms, as Zayn climbed into bed, letting him curl up to him. As the little boy fell asleep, Zayn thought about how he was going to explain Kaiden sleeping in your bed to you when you got home.