Is it bad that when my son starts screaming from the back seat, I just turn up the radio volume--and that seems to quiet the storm?

Probably.  

Is it embarrassing that while picking up a prescription at a crowded pharmacy, my 19-month-old son, Jack, in the midst of a very loud tantrum, decides to use the front of my shirt as a parachute to jump off of the counter, thereby causing me to flash not only my poor young male cashier but also most of the other patrons waiting in line?

Definitely.  

Is it irritating that I cannot go to ________(insert any store, library, church etc. here) without having Jack  play “chase,” wherein he runs away from me, and I have to chase him down the aisles while trying to quietly yell at him to “get back here now!” 

Absolutely.

For someone like me, who thrives on rules and instructions and order, handling these outbursts is really difficult.

I cringe during the public tantrums.

I yell when I’m supposed to remain calm.

I panic if I leave the house without a sippy cup of water and some cheerios. 

When we run errands, I have a list, and I go directly to what I need--the goal is to get in and get out.

My phone, car keys and coupons are my distraction techniques when things are touch and go (or after we’ve been in the store for more than five minutes).

After a particularly bad day, while researching whether or not my child’s obnoxious behavior had crossed over the line of what is normal, I learned that the ages of roughly 2 to 4 years are just an overall bumpy ride.

The cherry on top for us is that Jack began ours at 15 months (one could say that he excels in this particular area of his development). 

So, while we are teaching Jack to cry it out and shake it off, we ourselves are learning the hard lesson of toughing it out.

Most days that means a lot of deep breaths and counting to ten. Some nights, it means a glass of wine. And sometimes it means having a good cry after the day is done.

Would I trade any of this craziness in for my life before Jack? NEVER.