Until you have been in the situation, you don’t know how absolutely horrific it can be when you little person decides to throw a full-blown tantrum out and about in public.
It is – I think the best way of putting it – humbling.
And mortifying – at least for a little bit, until you center yourself and breathe deep and realise this happens to everyone, it’s not you, you are not a bad parent.
The thing is – what I found, as a mum who has been through my fair share of epic public meltdowns – you never realise how much of a tribe motherhood really is until you are in one of these situation. It’s true. Strangers will give you rencouraging looks, and other mums, no doubt having been in the same boat more than once, will remind you this too shall pass.
And because of this, you will start showing other mums battling a hysterical toddler the very same kindness. It is a beautiful circle.
Celebrity mums aren’t immune to this either. Turns out, toddlers are toddlers, no what their mum’s paycheck looks like or how many followers she has on social media.
This is something actress Olivia Wilde knows all too well, after her 5-year-old son, Otis, recently had what she describes as a “Defcon 1” temper tantrum.
Wilde, a mother-of-two, recently detailed what went down in a series of Twitter posts, including how a pair of strangers stepped up to the plate to give her a helping hand.
Couple days ago my kid was having a level 10, defcon 1, couldn’t-control-his-body meltdown at a restaurant. It happens. Poor guy was hungry as hell and overwhelmed. I was holding four bags and my 2 yr old. It was chaos.
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) August 1, 2019
Oh yes. We’ve all been there, Olivia. Worst. Feeling. EVER. But lucky for Olivia, there were a couple of kind souls witnessing the tantrum who sympathized and offered to help her out.
The place was packed and we were very much on display. I was in way over my head. I stayed calm but I was kind of crumbling inside. In the midst of the madness, 2 strangers, a young man and woman, approached and asked if they could help.
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) August 1, 2019
I swallowed my pride and said yes, please, and they walked with us, placed my stuff into my trunk, and even put my daughter in her car seat, while I tried to soothe my son. I thanked them and they said, “hey no problem. We all have days like this.”
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) August 1, 2019
In her final tweet about her tantrum adventure, the actres said:
I’m so moved by this simple act of kindness. Their generosity profoundly effected my (and my kids’) reality that day. I can’t wait to do this for someone else. Humans are good. We can’t forget that. ❤️
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) August 1, 2019
So remember this the next time you see a mum struggling with a tantruming toddler, mums. This happens to all of us. And sometimes, all that is needed is a smile. And a reminder that we are in this together.
