I haven’t taken little T.Puzzle on many outings lately. It’s mostly been due to illness but if I’m going to be completely honest, it’s also because he is so tantrum-prone that my nerves can’t take it. Granted, Full Speed gave me the same sort of issues at this age, but I was younger and my tolerance was higher for behavioral catastrophes (and there were many). Anyway, I have been feeling guilty that little T.Puzzle is missing out. I used to take Full Speed on several structured activities and lately all T.Puzzle has done is observe my laundry skills (which are mad fierce) up close and keep me company while I run to Target (not very educational I suppose unless carrying my purse helps him understand gender roles).
In this new year I am making a commitment to take him on more outings. Today it was storytime at Barnes and Noble. I know I had a 50/50 shot of it actually being enjoyable. He did okay during the story itself and only tried to casually tackle me a couple times. He quickly lost interest in it (he did enjoy the song portion) and darted to the dreaded, community Thomas the Train table as soon as physically possible. He was insistent that his train stay in contact with the railroad at all points and attempted to circle the table again and again. He was running over babies, tossing toddlers and stomping on granny toes to maintain this goal. After about 15 minutes of constant correction by me, I decided it was time to leave. My friend suggested getting a Thomas book to distract him, and it did, but once he realized we were leaving the table for good, a tantrum ensued. Surprisingly, it only reached a level four. Additionally, he did the wet noodle formation in the store in protest. He kept this going out to the parking lot as well. That’s getting pretty tough because he is almost as big as me. I barely powered through and managed to plunk him in the carseat tears and all. By the time we were home, he was calm and even said he was sorry. He is making progress. I think I better up my weight training regiment just in case.
Writes for all Mommies 
I feel like you are right and he is making progress. That wet noodle thing is tough to figure out. My niece did that move a few times over Christmas.
I hate the wet noodle. It’s one step forward, two wet noodles back.