Temper tantrums are an unfortunate part of life when you’ve got young children in the house.
While one California father of three was on vacation with his family in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, his wife left the room to run a quick errand. Even though she wasn’t gone for very long their two daughters Georgia, 3, and Genevieve, 6, saw her absence as a personal affront. Before he knew what was happening both girls were in full-blown tantrum mode.
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Dressed and ready to hit the pool, both little girls threw their heads back and wailed. Genevieve seemed to be leading the charge, interspersing her cries with the occasional mumbled “mommy!” Little Georgia seemed to be following her big sister’s lead for the most part, but that doesn’t make it any more easy to listen to her wails for her dear old dad!
Thankfully, this particular dad has a trick up his sleeve that is making parents everywhere sit up and take notes. As the girls cry he interrupts them and turns the entire tantrum into a game that they’re all playing. Like any good game, everyone has to take a turn, so he makes them both hush while he fake cries for a few seconds. The looks on their faces say it all.
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You can tell that Genevieve really wants to keep crying, but she’s being a good girl and waiting her turn. After Georgia shakes her head and refuses to cry when it’s her time, Genevieve gives a half-hearted cry or two during her turn but dad cuts her off before she can get herself too worked up.
Within seconds both girls have stopped crying and are calm enough to see reason. “I figured it out with one of my daughters a long time ago. Works every single time,” Dad wrote when he uploaded the video. In an earlier video, we see the father’s clever trick in action once again, and he’s right – it does seem to work every time!
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Little Georgia is crying her eyes out about something when dad starts recording. Once again he makes the child stop so that he can “take his turn,” and incredibly she actually does it. Her face is perplexed because she clearly knows that she’s being tricked, but she can’t quite work out how.
After dad takes his turn he asks Georgia to take hers, but the little girl is all cried out!
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This is such a simple trick we can’t believe we never thought of it! All he’s doing is taking them out of the moment just long enough for them to regain control of their emotions, which usually is all kids need to settle down. Making it into a game with turns is sheer genius!
Click the video below to see this trick in action and don’t forget to share with a parent who could use this tip.
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