macaroni drama..

pepe watched "lola and charlie" before dinner this evening. chris and i warmed up some lentil and vegetable stew for us, and i made mac and cheese for pepe, per his request. as soon as we sat at the table, pepe took a bite and spilled some on the ground. Immediately he became upset screaming "I need more". He usually does this when he spills, and we usually tell him that he has plenty and he'll get more once he finishes what's on his plate. But tonight this did not work. And Pepe threw his plate on the floor, screaming "I need more". A time out followed. Pepe continued to scream that he want macaroni. Initially I felt that he should not have any, as a lesson, and offered other foods. Finally I realized he is too tired, perhaps, a bit sick, for sure, and he needs to eat. So Pepe and I together made another bowl of macaroni (those individual servings). Pepe calmed down and I was able to talk to him about being angry and upset, which is OK, and about throwing, which is not OK, and about perhaps counting or breathing when upset (yeah, right!). Macaroni was ready, and Pepe took the bowl and...dumped it on the floor and ran away from me. When I asked if it was an accident, he ran further and started screaming "I want more". Chris was not witness to this second incident, as he went to take a shower while Pepe and I made the macaroni. Boy, I was so angry with Pepe. He sensed it to. I took him upstairs, in my arms, and the separation made me realize that he is jut exhausted. I left him upstairs with Chris, and went downstairs, but Pepe started screaming that he wants me, and I need to hols him. He realized I was upset. I held strong to "no macaroni tonight", and send Pepe out with Chris to get some pizza (hopefully nothing is getting reinforced here). This was probably the first real tantrum of Pepe's. I hear from other moms and I read other mom's blogs about their kids screaming for hours, and I know this is nothing compared to that. Pepe is acting like a 2 y old, although I do feel that he is testing our limits a bit, yet I also think that developmentally he can't , for example, understand the future tense, everything is present, and getting more macaroni in the future might not mean much to him...i also see myself in him, as a kid, i would so have dumped the second bowl of macaroni, just to piss my parents off and show off my stubbornness... so there you go!