Recount a Tantrum

A critique of social media platforms is how miserable they can make people feel, because they can give an enormously skewed portrayal of one’s lifestyle or career success. Whether it’s selfies on Insta in front of someone’s lux Airbnb in an exotic locales, or a 3rd-degree LinkedIn connection’s humblebrag announcement about a new role they’re thrilled to accept, we’ve all had that sinking, nauseous feeling in our stomach when our subconscious comparison reflex kicks in.

When writing to your kids, you’ve got nothing to gain from not telling it how it is, warts and all. So why not devote your next note to telling them about a tantrum they had. Undoubtedly triggered by a most insignificant of events (well, insigificant to you), tell them about how they reacted, how things escalated, and how things, in the end, resolved (as they always do). How’d you do? Did you keep your cool and help de-escelate the situation? Or did you have your own little tantrum, throwing fuel on the fire? Judgement-free zone; just be honest.

As your child looks back on all this, it will be an important reminder that, in the midst of all the sweet little recollections and funny anecdotes, there were also some tears. If your, or they, happen to be going through something tough when reading it, it might also provide a bit of perspective that what seem like huge, tantrum-worthy problems in the moment might only be smaller speed bumps when viewed in the rear view mirror.