'Bravo' To The Dad Of A Toddler Who Threw A Tantrum In Target Because He Didn't Get What He Wanted — From An Impressed Shopper
The father expressed patience with his toddler during his tantrum.
Arsenii Palivoda / Shutterstock A father is being praised for the way he handled his toddler's tantrum while out in public.
In a TikTok video, a content creator named Cari Izaguirre revealed that she was in Target when she noticed the way a random father spoke to his toddler while he was in the middle of having a temper tantrum.
She applauded the patience a father had while dealing with his toddler's tantrum.
"This is to the dad that was just in Target with your young boy. You guys were walking past the books and he threw a fit because you didn't allow him to get a book," Izaguirre began in her video, speaking directly to the unnamed father she'd seen in the store.
She explained that after the father denied the boy's request for a book, he began to throw himself all over the place. It wasn't the tantrum that caught Izaguirre's attention but the way the father jumped into action and responded to his son's outburst.
"You did the most incredible job with him and I couldn't help but watch how you were with him. I understand how hard it is to raise kids but you set the standards," Izaguirre praised.
She watched as the father took his toddler aside and instructed the little boy to take some deep breaths.
After he calmly asked his son to take some breaths, he hugged the toddler and asked him where he was right now. The little boy immediately answered that they were in Target, and when his father asked what he was standing on, the toddler responded that he was standing on the floor.
The father continued his stream of questions, asking his son if the floor was carpeted or tiled — and the toddler answered that it was tiled.
"He was grounding him, bringing him back to reality," Izaguirre observed. "It worked. The little boy came quickly back to his senses and stopped crying and was having this really awesome conversation with his dad."
She admitted that, as a parent, she didn't have this same level of patience with her children.
Izaguirre acknowledged that it was incredible to watch, especially as a parent who would often lose her cool and end up throwing a tantrum similar to the ones her toddlers were throwing whenever they had outbursts like that in public.
"I didn't have that crazy patience," she recalled. "It was incredible. Major, major applause and kudos to this young dad."
While many parenting experts recommend simply ignoring your child if they're having a tantrum, this father's approach allowed his son to come to terms with his emotions and taught him to deal with feeling overwhelmed.
Toddlers aren't yet equipped with the tools to deal with their large emotions, and for them, having tantrums, screaming, crying, and throwing themselves on the floor is the only way for them to express themselves.
As parents, it's their job to teach toddlers tools to regulate emotions, and the younger those lessons are taught, the better they will be able to handle them as they grow older.
This heartwarming moment in Target stands as a shining example of the positive impact patient parenting can have on a child's emotional well-being.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.