Since Madness entered the phase of Getting What He Wants Through the Art of Screaming Until He Gets It, I have struggled in the afternoons. Especially the rainy afternoons. What can we do when I am exhausted from the screaming and he is grumpy because I refuse to let him get away with that kind of behaviour?
Last week, on a whim, I bought a tube of bubbles. Madshee loves them in playgroup, and when he was smaller I would use them to distract him at busstops and train stations and during Mummy Time at cafés with friends. Now I use them nearly every afternoon when it’s rainy.
And peace reigns again in Casa Crikey. Well, something resembling peace, at any rate.
I still really hate the screaming, but if I ignore it, or if I can calm him down (when he lets me) then it’s not too bad. Mostly. And when all else fails, I can suffer safe in the knowledge that somewhere in my house is a tube of bubbles. Probably in a shoe or behind a book case.
Fun tip: Hire a bubble blower and take a nap in the afternoons while some random person is blowing bubbles with your Madness (shee).
Serious Tip: The bubble machines are great in that they blow lots and lots of bubbles. I don’t like them because hunkering down on the floor with Madness and blowing bubbles for him are really lovely, loving, bonding moments that I would miss out on if I ran a machine.
