giomarelli
07-07-2009, 05:16 PM
Amelia is a very active 18 months kind. She's been like that since she started walking at 9 months. It was tiring but also fun, so I was ok with that. Two months ago we moved to Italy, my home land. Amelia was happy for the first two or three weeks, then she became increasingly uncontrollable. She needs to be constantly moving, but most importantly she needs to engage in challenging activities, physically and mentally. For example, in one moment she can climb her high chair and make around it all sort of acrobatics, and one minute later she is trying to figure out the mechanisms to tight the chair's belt. She can work hard to get it. Doesn't seem like a problem, right?! Well, it's not until she cannot do it right and gets very frustrated. So, she starts screaming. I help her figure it out and she's ok for the moment but then she'll quickly move on the next task, which can be often too dangerous to let her do it. Recently she started screaming and screeching very loud when I don't allow her to do something. Some days she seems to scream without any apparent reasons, which make it even harder for me to tolerate. Amelia knows few words (half Italian and half English), which she uses occasionally. I guess part of her screaming can be the result of the frustration derived from the lack of communication. However, I have the impression she needs to be engaged in fun and challenging games. She's generally much happier when she can be outdoor and run around. I understand that this is normal for a kid but I am at the moment and I will have to be, at least for a few months, a "single mother" (daddy's still working in the US) and I simply don't seem to be enough for her. Could you suggest activities or games that could make her happy? Also, any suggestions with tantrums are welcome. In Italy it is not considered particularly bad to occasionally hit your child in her bottom if she misbehaves but I don't like it and don't even think it works. So, I try not to do it but sometimes she pushes the walls very hard.... Thank you for your help.