After Her Child’s ‘Huge Meltdown,’ This Mom Wonders If She Should Cancel Their Mother-Daughter Date

A mom has reached a parenting crossroad.

The concerned parent turned to the community forum Mumsnet for advice on whether she should cancel her planned mother-daughter date to the movie theater after her 4-year-old daughter had a “huge meltdown.”

“She generally is very easy-going,” the mom wrote. “However, every now and again her temper gets quite out of control at the click of a finger.”

“She couldn’t find something and looked downstairs and was upset when she couldn’t find it,” she continued. “I found it. When I showed it to her she just went ballistic — screaming and crying. I tried to speak to her calmly, but she continued to scream and tried to lash out at me.”

The mom also noted that her daughter “completely destroyed” a garland that was around her bed amid the meltdown.

“My mom was meant to be looking after my youngest and I was due to take my daughter to the cinema. Shall I cancel the day out or am I being unreasonable?” she asked the forum about how to proceed.

Mumsnet users had mixed responses, with some offering suggestions.

“Tell her she needs to earn the trip,” one reader said. “Give her a couple of jobs to do to earn the trip back so you are rewarding positive behavior.”

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“If this is rare for her to behave this way, I’d let her calm down, offer her some comfort, explain destroying her garland wasn’t acceptable and that she’s not to take her anger out on things and damage them and tell her a better way of being angry,” another person recommended. “Then, I’d draw a line under it and stick to your original plans.”