The terrible two's & terrible trains

It's not the tantrums per se that I can't cope with, it's the completely randon timing & reasons behind them, and therefore the impossibility of fixing the problem & stopping the little darling in their tracks.

It's been a busy day. Wednesdays are good because LM Blond goes to pre-school, so when Mstr A is at school I get a whole day to work with only the baby to keep an eye on. However, as it's the school holidays that didn't apply today. It is also asolutely throwing it down outside, so cheap activities such as playing in the garden/park/beach are out. So when mother-in-law suggested we come over to her for the day, I jumped at the chance for a free lunch, lots of coffee & another pair of eyes.

Then I remembered that we've sold our second car & bought a great big 8 seater thing, so I have no transport. M-i-L lives in a tiny village about 25 miles away. So, walk through the rain with all three kids to drop LM Blond at pre-school, walk through the rain with Mstr A & LM Dark in pram to get my hair cut, walk through the rain with my new hairstyle to to the train station, wait in the rain for train.

Train arrives a good 1/2 metre from the platform edge, so struggle to push pram onto train, keep hold of Mstr A (who thinks trains are a great adventure & need to be explored), and carry sreaming, squirming baby, while dozens of other passengers watch. get to Bristol Temple Meads - a fairly large station (15 platforms), & repeat process in reverse. discover it's a 40 min wait for the connecting train. Find a cafe & buy cheapest thing there just to sit inside. Wait 35 mins. go back on to platform. The train is there, but no letting anyone on. The train leaves. Everyone looks at each other & I assure Mstr A that we have not missed the train, it will be back soon.

we wait

and wait

after a further 15 cold, wet & windy mins I ask a guard what's going on. Appaerently they tried to couple a coach onto the engine at the platform, but couldn't as there was a bend in the track, so they've moved the engine to try again further down the track. So, despite the fact that BTM is the oldest railway terminus in the world, they have only just discovered today that you can not couple coaches to engines on a bend!

Finally the train returns, correctly coupled, 20 mins late & we travel the 10 mins to the nearest town to M-i-L. She meets us there & drives the last few miles. The whole journey has taken 3 hours.

A good couple of hours pass quickly & the I do the whole thing again to get home, although the rain has stopped, the train isn't late, & I've left Mstr A behind (deliberately - he's coming back tomorrow). As I walk in the door I hear a cheerful "hello mum" from LM Blond, immediately followed by a wail as she throws herself to the floor in floods of tears.

I try to find out what is wrong, and get a sob of "my 'puter". So I turn on her computer, load up the annoying prgramme, sit her in front of it. "NO mum", I try each of the different parts of the programme "NO mum". Mr Aginoth goes through exactly the same attempts "NO Dad". I turn the computer off. "My dummy" she sobs inconsoleably. I behave like a terrible parent & aquiesce, giving her the dummy that is only for sleeping. "NO Mum" she shouts, throwing it on the floor. I remember that I have given the same advise to loads of parents regarding tantrums, and leave her kicking & screaming on the floor. she kicks, screams, sobs & whimpers for 5 mins, then abruptly gets up & comes for a cuddle. Five mins on, she's happily playing with her socks. It takes me a while longer for my stress levels to decrease - just in time to start the going to bed fight:-)