The Scream

First of all, thank you to everyone who checked out the blog renovation and commented. I will be printing your comments and quoting them every time Hot Guy complains about having to search for clean socks.

You know how they say you can become addicted to crack after just trying it once?

I swear they told me that in high school. I don't know if this is actually true because I have never tried crack. Partially because I didn't want to become addicted to it (hey, some things they told me in high school were true) and partially because no one has ever offered me crack. Apparently I've lead a very sheltered life.

Anyway, thanks to your awesome rationalizations and compliments after the blog renovation/laundry skipping of last week, I thought I'd ask for advice. Also, I am kind of desperate.

This is Hugmonkey. That's not even his best smile. He is that cute. And so affectionate. One of the first words he learned was "hug". But Hugmonkey also has a darker side. 

It's called "The Scream". And if you do not do his bidding, or make him unhappy in any way, he will use it. The Scream is LOUD. It is immediate. It is piercing. It can be repeated for up to 30 minutes at a time. It will continue until he is appeased or in time out for several minutes. 

At first, we tried talking to him and practicing more appropriate ways to handle 2 year old anger. He dutifully practiced, "I mad!" Then he screamed 2 minutes later. And didn't stop until about 5 minutes into time out (yes, I know he's only 2, but I'm not starting the time out clock until he actually stops the screaming that he is getting the time out for). 

The time out response is not working, in that he is still screaming when he doesn't get his way. Yesterday I had the audacity to put him down before we were all the way to Ironflower's door at pick up time. The Scream came then and literally ever parent in the area turned and stared at me. 

That's what The Scream is like. It's not the normal fussy tantrum that people would normally ignore on a playground filled with kids and their little siblings. It sounds like he is . . .actually, I can't say what it sounds like, exactly. I've been there when he's gotten shots, bumped his head and gotten a huge scrape. The Scream is like him getting all of those combined. But worse. 

Hugmonkey's language explosion has been huge. He is fully capable of making his displeasure clear without screaming, he is actually starting to participate in conversations and he is very bright. So I'm pretty sure he's manipulating us all with The Scream. 

And I'd really appreciate ideas on how to make him stop. Anyone?