A 10 minute tantrum...

[KTMom91]

OMG. She's almost 19. And one of her Sharpie pens was in the cup on my side table. I picked it up to use it, and she freaked. "That's MY PEN! Why do you have MY PEN? Give me MY PEN back RIGHT NOW!" I stared at her in disbelief, while she kept ramping up, wanting HER PEN back RIGHT NOW. She got even louder when I asked her if she'd been taking her medications. I just couldn't believe she was seriously throwing a huge fit about a pen. I didn't want to laugh, but it really was funny to see her sitting on the floor and screaming about HER PEN, reaching her hand out to grab it from me. Finally she calmed down enough to ask for the sacred pen's return, like a civilized human being, and I gave it back to her.

This is the first summer of her entire life that she hasn't had summer school, day camp, something besides watching TV and Facebooking. 43 more days till she leaves for college.

 

[ThreeShadows]

I'm sorry and I get it. It's some kind of weird sibling rivalry because they don't realize that we are the heads of household. I know you understand what I mean because you do genealogy and read US censuses. Can you imagine our ancestors having the nerve to treat the heads of family this way?

 

[Shari]

Today, I took cgfg and her friend to town. On the way back, they were mimicking the seagulls in the movie "Finding Nemo". The gulls see something they want and go "mine mine mine mine" over and over and over.

I've often joked its the motto of the Broom closet.

Maybe its KT's, too.

 

[busywend]

Now is the time, when she has forgotten about the pen, to explain to her that she sounded like a 4 year old when she was claiming her pen. She has to learn self awareness and the only way is for you to help her see it.
Do it during a calm, peaceful moment. Ask her if she remembers the pen incident? Then start asking her why she felt that it was so important to claim it and explain how she appeared to you (like a 4 year old) and then talk about how someone outside the family might perceive that reaction to someone using her pen. Then how she might have calmed herself to some patience and perhaps the response in the future could be, "Oh, I did not know my pen was in here. When you are done using it I will put it back in my room."

This is the only way to help her at this age. Get her to see it and figure out how to change the reaction.

 

[Marguerite]

Yep. Role-play it when she's calm, and then see if you can work out where this came form.

We still get is at times with easy child 2/difficult child 2. Far less since she started Zoloft. She's much calmer now. Still a headache at times.

Marg

 

[AnnieO]

In a way, it is funny - but not so much in other ways. I've seen this myself, only usually it's something Onyxx has appropriated then she throws a fit when we reappropriate.

I agree with the calm discussion/brain storming. As long as it doesn't escalate, you're good.