There is a moment, familiar to almost every parent, when a small body collapses onto a grocery store floor, and the only thought available to you is: I need this to stop. You are not wrong to want it to stop. But the desire to end the tantrum and the desire to understand it are two very different instincts, and only one of them will actually change anything long-term. A tantrum is not a manipulation. It is not a test of your authority, and it is not evidence that you are fail