Oh the tantrum. The tantrum! The screeching, yelling, hurling-of-themselves onto the floor. And over what? The silliest, most unpredictable, ludicrous reason you can imagine.
From the wrong-coloured toothbrush to the way a person looked at them, there's no way of telling which particular thing will offend your toddler and so there's no way of knowing when the purple-faced meltdown will begin (or end!). And of course they save their best tantrum performance for when you're out, for the maximum in public humiliation.
Often the problem is something you simply can't fix. You just have to ride the storm and attempt every distraction technique in the book. But after it's over, at least you can try and laugh about it. Try.
So to ease the pain and reassure you that you're not alone and that your child isn't the most bonkers out there, here are some of our favourite reasons our kids have had a tantrum.
And if you've got some to add, make us laugh by adding your ridiculous reasons in the comments area below or getting involved with the discussion on our Facebook page.
1. Wrong way
NOT LIKE THAT!!! (When you've just done EXACTLY what they've asked.)
2. Mean Mummy
I wanted Daddy to get my fork
3. See no evil
I didn't want you to look at me
4. Car catastrophe
I wanted to get in the other side of the car. (Even though my sister/brother is in their car seat on that side and it's physically impossible to get through.)
5. Raisin rage
There was a raisin on my seat.
6. Food fury
My peas touched my potatoes. (Meaning I can't possibly eat either, or anything else on my plate.)
7. Location let-down
I want to get dressed upstairs. (When you've just brought their clothes downstairs.)
8. Weather wobbly
It's raining.
9. Nappy nightmare
I don't want my nappy on.
10. Tooth trauma
My toothbrush isn't blue. (Or red, or black, or whatever the colour of the day is.)
11. Telly tragedy
I want the telly on.
12. Snack attack
Mummy ate one of my crisps.
13. Mealtime meltdown
I wanted to eat my dinner. (An hour after it's been thrown in the bin.)
14. Broken breakdown
My lolly/biscuit/cheese broke. (And it's unfixable. And you don't have another one to replace it.)
15. Cat calamity
The cat ran away and didn't let me stroke it.
16. Coat crisis
I hate my coat. (When you really, really need to be somewhere on time.)
17. Slipper sobbing
I don't want to wear my new slippers. I want to wear my old, worn-out, too-small ones.
18. Supermarket sulk
I didn't want a basket, I wanted to get in the trolley. (When you only want to buy five things.)
19. Door disaster
I wanted to open the door.
20. Sitting protest
I don't want to walk any more. (Lays down in the middle of the supermarket in front of everyone).
21. Ball or bust
I want another ball (to add to the 100 I already have).
22. Money madness
I want that money. (Just as you're paying for something.)
23. Last straw
I wanted to go first. (Always.)
