Someone Wonders “What’s The Most Ridiculous Reason Your Child Had A Meltdown?” And 50 Parents Give Hilarious Answers

Meltdowns are inseparable from having kids. Our little daredevils are notorious tantrum throwers, and it’s just a question of severity and frequency with which they occur. There are countless parenting methods created to take back control of a child in meltdown, and ways to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Tantrums and meltdowns can be generated by a lot of different things: fear, frustration, anger, and sensory overload, to name a few. Moreover, a tantrum isn’t a very clear way to communicate, but they’re very powerful in getting not just parents' but every onlooker’s attention.

This article on the Childmind Institute argues that we should think of a tantrum as a reaction to a situation a child can’t handle in a more grown-up way. “By talking about how he feels, or making a case for what he wants, or just doing what he’s been asked to do. Instead, he is overwhelmed by emotion.”

“If unleashing his feelings in a dramatic way — crying, yelling, kicking the floor, punching the wall, or hitting a parent — serves to get him what he wants (or out of whatever he was trying to avoid), it’s a behavior that he may come to rely on.”

Challenges like meltdowns are a quintessential part of being a parent. Many people know that and are still willing to make a sacrifice for the better good and having a fulfilling life with kids. Others, however, choose a very different path, which is staying childfree.

This is, of course, not to say that people choose not to have kids because it’s difficult raising them, rather they make a decision for a complex of reasons. They may range from rising living costs, rising housing prices, widespread concerns about social media and climate change, people’s own childhood experiences, and simply not wanting children.

Despite the fact that the childfree lifestyle is gaining popularity every day, it’s still viewed with a huge stigma in our society. To find out what are the reasons for so many people condemning those who opt for life without kids, Bored Panda spoke with Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist and author of multiple books, including "Be A Great Manager Now", "The Leader's Guide to Mindfulness," and "The Leader's Guide to Resilience.” It turns out this has a lot to do with human nature and our tendency to be judgemental toward others.

“When we live in a society with others (and this is evident in the animal kingdom), we tend to understand our ‘place’ in the pack through acknowledging ourselves in comparison to others – with the goal being access to resources,” Tang argues.

According to Tang, “in humans, we are fighting less over a perceived scarcity of food and water, but (especially in the social media world) a need for acknowledgment and validation. Further to which, building self-esteem has focused on appreciating the self… but often in comparison to others (e.g. I didn’t win… but at least I didn’t come last).” She explained that we are brought up judging others to know our position.

Moreover, Tang claims that in evolutionary terms, this is perhaps sensible. “By making it clear there is someone else (a 'weaker prey' perhaps) to focus on, we can remain ‘safe.’”

Tang told Bored Panda that it becomes all too easy to, rather than show acceptance of difference or even learn from that other person, try to negate that of the other – it is the act of “normative idealization.” She continued explaining that normative idealization is when you think like “what I do is normal, what you do is odd (it makes our own ego feel better); or to return to my first point of looking outwards - we might alternatively just be picking on others to avoid thinking about our own problems – and something which makes them 'different' is an easy target… and sometimes it means by bringing someone down (rather than working to raise ourselves up), we feel better about ourselves – and don’t need to admit we need to do something about our own insecurities.”