Omigosh, my daughter EXCELLED at temper tantrums at age 6! Sometimes, I was sure the condo neighbors were going to call Child Protective Services on us! She would hit walls, kick floors, bang her head on the arms of the sofa, and scream repetitively at the top of her voice.
One of her very favorite tricks was to refuse dinner and then have a meltdown at bedtime because she was hungry. She would, in temper tantrum voice, say litigous things like "you are REQUIRED to feed me as my parents. Give me food now!" Even with the threat of CPS being called, we didn't give in because we needed the three-meals structure in our lives and she was trying to manipulate us out of it. (I know other parents here might have handled this differently; I don't know if I did the right thing or not...)
She also said things like your son is saying about her own self worth. She doesn't seem to have any intensity issues at school or church.
I can't say that she has grown out of it per se, but her expression of intense emotions have matured. Now she skulks and fumes instead.
With both the tantrums and the fuming, we have used deep-breathing and other calming practices and we've also given her "time out," not so much as a punishment but just so she could cool off. Cooling off periods have been necessary for her since toddlerhood.
She goes through cycles of calm/happy and intense/moody. Her intense periods seem to coincide with growth spurts.
FWIW, my mom swears I started having PMS at age 7. :-)
We have adjusted our "normal" to fit our daughter and worked through it and haven't sought counseling. Finances and access to mental health insurance have played a role in our decision. But I think counseling could only help, if the therapist were experienced with gifted people. My own time in therapy as a young adult was very, very useful to me.
-Shannon
Last edited by zarfkitty; 11/11/09 09:32 AM. Reason: more I wanted to say
