Have you ever found yourself feeling defeated, frustrated, and at your wits' end when your toddler is in the midst of an epic temper tantrum? What am I saying? Of course you've been there. We all have. But I have some good news for you — you're not doing anything wrong even though your little one is screaming at the top of his lungs.
According to researchers at the University of Montreal, toddler tantrums are a result of genetics … not poor parenting. (Winning.) Yep. And that would explain why some parents wind up with one kid who throws fits and another who is much more calm.
Sure, environmental factors play a part too — but researchers indicated that a child's genetic make-up played a "substantial" part in their level of physical aggression.
So apparently as far as the nature vs. nurture debate goes — nature tends to win out here.
And you know what that means. Duh — the next time your toddler throws a fit, you can go ahead and blame it on your husband and his crappy genes.
I mean, there's no way your side of the family is to blame for your little one acting like a pint-sized asshole, right? Any sort of aggression has to come from his gene pool, so you can rest assured that even though your kid is freaking out, you're doing all the right things to give him the best possible start in life.
Ok, so I'm only half kidding. But seriously, isn't this sort of a huge relief — even if your genes are the reason why your kid is kind of on the aggressive side? In that case, the tantrum is still (indirectly) your fault — but it's not like you really have any control over it. That kid was born with a strong set of pipes he can't seem to keep under wraps, so you might as well just kick back, relax, and enjoy the tantrum — and hope that any future offspring wind up with the good, calm genes instead of the angry ones.
Have you found a way to control your toddler's temper tantrums?
Image via Johannes Kroemer/Corbis
