Anne Heche blogs about public temper tantrums: good advice or nothing new?

Anne Heche

Crazy Anne Heche is a mommy blogger now. Yes, you read that correctly. She’s so nutty, and I don’t mean to slight anyone who has an actual, documented case of mental illness, but Anne is the one who titled her memoir, Call Me Crazy, while she discussed her famed alter-ego, Celestia, who came out during her 2000 breakdown. That’s all in the past though, hopefully, and I tend to think that she could very well be certifiable, but I think she was also begging for attention and framed herself in the manner most befitting.

Anne is still currently with her Men in Trees co-star, James “McTreemy” Tupper, and they have been engaged for years. Anne has a four year-old son, Atlas, with James, and she is also mother to Homer, 11, whose father is Coley Lafoon. Anne and Coley’s divorce was very acrimonious with Coley winning primary custody while Anne spent most of her time in Canada for work. She was very bitter about the situation and even dissed Coley repeatedly on Letterman, and she’s always seemed quite angry that she has to pay Coley child support. Again, that’s something that Anne would like us to forget as she writes her mommy blogging series for People. In this heavily edited excerpt (which was previously a rambling book with “????” and “!!!!” in abundance), Anne describes how she dealt with a public temper tantrum on the part of Atlas. She frames the incident as one where she felt guilty about being a working mother, so she took Atlas to a toy store where he had a meltdown:

Anne Heche

When Attie is upset, his face starts to get red before actual sounds come out. Gradually he manages to emit sputters, umphs and crazy-hot emotional spits which erupt as a precursor to his eventual verbal declaration.

Apparently a skate-boarding-parachute-guy was NOT the toy that Atlas had hoped for. The fit began with not wanting the skateboard part to be attached to the guy part and then the fury traveled its way up the body of skateboard guy to the parachute part, that was apparently NOT supposed to be connected to the guy AT ALL — shoulders, head or otherwise. Attie set off immediately to disconnect ALL parts.

All of Larchmont was listening. “I don’t want this toy, I want another toy!” he cried. Mommy conundrum: Do I escape this tantrum easily and without much embarrassment by allowing my newly-turned 4-year-old to bully and manipulate me into getting him another toy? Or do I do the appropriate thing and try to calmly pry him off the sidewalk, where he is now balled up, yelling that he wants the toy store to be his “new home” and attempt to parent him with discipline?

This is a tough one. I don’t like strangers to be staring at me, especially not while I anticipate my own internal decisions of motherhood with a snotty-nosed fit-fest happening in a corner on the sidewalk. I chose discipline. Self, that is. “Don’t cave, Anne,” I told myself over and over as I witnessed a groovy 20-something, clearly childless couple, wonder out loud, “Is that kid … lost?” And then catch themselves when I shook my head, and then wanted to scream, “Mommy attempting to parent correctly!” But I didn’t. It was written all over me. I was trying to be strong, but felt like a total and complete loser.

I managed to muster enough self-worth and will to know that a spoiled child is not what I wanted for Atlas’ life even more than I didn’t want it for mine. I remembered the wise words of a kind grandmother who once told me, “If you don’t control them at an early age, they will come to control you.”

And then a miracle happened: A beautiful woman who had avoided us on the sidewalk by taking the street, caught my eye just as Atlas was getting buckled in — and she winked at me. Atlas fell asleep within 30 seconds of the ride home. But this day, I had a renewed hope. A support system I never realized I have: Mommies are always out there, surrounding us and encouraging us, giving us strength and a wink when we most need it. We can trust it.

Look around — we are always there, witnessing and thanking you for being strong, parenting against all odds. You fighting the good fight for our children and their future as good, caring, loving citizens, and that’s what counts.

[From People]

This blog of Anne’s is nothing groundbreaking, of course. Nearly every parent out there has experienced the searing embarrassment of a child throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of a store or restaurant. It’s not a big deal, really; and although some people will glare at you as if you should never bring your child out in public, I think most people are understanding about the situation and realize that kids do this all the time. I have learned to tune out tantrum-throwing children in stores, but it does bother me when parents don’t seem to care if their kids are throwing fits on airplanes. Like, if I paid hundreds of dollars for my seat, the least you can do is shush your kid, not act like nothing is happening. Even if you have to bribe them a little bit to keep the peace on that flight, it’s worth it for the entire plane’s sake.

With that said, Anne does seem like a good mom though even if she’s acting as if she’s the first person in the world to encounter a public temper tantrum.

Anne Heche

Anne Heche

Anne Heche

Photos courtesy of WENN

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22 Responses to “Anne Heche blogs about public temper tantrums: good advice or nothing new?”

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  1. Christin says:

    How interesting that a Heche post pops up as Bowfinger came to my mind on another post this morning. Anne was such a nutty gal several years ago. At least she seems to own her craziness. Her kids are cute! And the grandmother was very right.

  2. Lulu.T.O. says:

    Oh man, it hurts to lose a child like she did. No wonder she lost her shizz for awhile.

  3. Jessie says:

    It’s so funny I’ve come across this story because I had something similar happen to me yesterday with my 2 year old. I took him to take passport pictures at Walgreen and he did NOT want to do it, he wouldn’t let go of my leg and no amount of coercing him was going to make him take this picture. Then all the sudden he found a plastic sword an calmed down, an asked me to buy it for him. I said I would get it if he’d take the picture, but he refused so I put the sword back. He proceeded to have the biggest tantrum I had ever seen, just for this stupid sword, but I stood firm and carried him out kicking and screaming out of the store to the car, here he proceeded to have a meltdown for 20 minutes until he calmed down. I drove to another Walgreens after he calmed down and he took the picture without issue after that.

    The point of my rambling story is all kids do it, stand firm, ou always look like a dumb ass bad parent to other when the kid is having a fit, but it’s best not to give in in the long run.

  4. I.want.shoes says:

    I have a 3 year old and we’ve been flying across the globe since he was born. It takes MAJOR preparation to ensure a smooth trip. Weeks in advance, I start preparing a backpack for him with new toys (nothing expensive, mostly little things that will get his attention- it can be as simple as Post-its with a pen), snacks (NO SUGAR), a fully charged ipad…

    But sometimes, despite my best efforts, my kid will cry. It may only last 5 minutes which will seem like an hour for you but like eternity for me. Most parents really do feel bad about their kid disturbing you, so please, don’t add to our despair by giving us dirty looks.

  5. yeahright says:

    I have two young girls and neither have ever had an embarrassing public meltdown. There have been times where they have cried or misbehaved of course but never a meltdown. I think if you teach your kids they arent the center of the world they learn quite a lot about respecting their parents and others.

    • Emily says:

      I was never a crazy tantrum kid either… at home or in public… If mum said ‘no’ or ‘that’s enough’, I stopped whatever I was doing…
      I am working as a nanny at the moment in France and there are crazed tantrums every afternoon in the school playground… I haven’t seen one parent say anything about it to their kid yet… Fingers crossed :S

    • mary jane says:

      I have 5 children and not one of them ever, ever threw a temper tantrum in public. Nor dared. I agree with your perspective wholeheartedly.

  6. Ag says:

    Yeah, not looking forward to such tantrums as my son grows up. Fingers crossed there won’t be too many. (Right? Right? Haha)

  7. paranormalgirl says:

    (taking off shrink hat lest I be accused of being a crappy psychiatrist again)

    Anne should be an expert, having had her share of public meltdowns.

  8. Lindy says:

    You know, I kind of love the point she is making toward the end there. I feel the same way myself as mom to a sweet, wonderful, rambunctious little boy.

    Last week I was flying for business, looking like my corporate self and not like my mom self. And saw a mom of a 3 or 4 year old little boy who was melting down. People were giving her dirty looks–she wasn’t ignoring the situation, she was doing her best. And as a mom (who has traveled extensively with my own kiddo) I just felt bad for her.

    So I just kind of quietly walked past, and told her, Hey, I get it, don’t stress, we’ve all been there. I feel like most of us are usually trying our best. Sure there are the crappy parents who act like their kids’ tantrums are the cutest thing in the world. But most of us work hard to discipline our kids, try our best, and still get it wrong at times.

    So I love that Heche reinforced this idea of kindness–of solidarity. Cheesy, maybe, but it’s great, I think.

  9. lucy2 says:

    Happily childless here, but I only get annoyed when parents aren’t trying and let their kids run wild. If you’re trying, I have sympathy, especially on a plane.

    Anne actually sounds like she’s doing OK, but I don’t know why she needs to share all that in People mag.

  10. Rachel says:

    I will admit that screaming children grate on me. But I am sensitive to loud (especially high pitched child screeches) noises. That’s on me.

    However, I do have a problem with it when a child throws a tantrum and the parents do absolutely NOTHING about it. If you choose to ignore your child’s tantrums in the privacy of your own home, more power to you, but when you take your child out in public, you need to have some respect for the people around you.

    • Christin says:

      This especially bothers me in restaurants. Not kiddie oriented places, but restaurants where the majority of patrons wish to enjoy a meal in relative peace. When parents ignore the behavior, that bugs me.

    • Emily says:

      Hhaha there was a story in an Australian newspaper recently about this family who was in a cafe on a Sunday morning and had a 2 year old absolutely bawling (sounding very distressed) and the parents sat their drinking their coffee. It went on for about 20 minutes and someone finally confronted them and was like… please… your kid is clearly distressed.. maybe something is wrong… can you take her outside please?

      The mother of the kid picked her up and went to leave, but before she did she said in a loud voice “You are a despicable person!”

      Hahhaha it attracted like 400 comments…
      It was surprising to hear that there were people on the side of the screaming kid parents… people who feel they deserve their coffee at the expense of their child’s wellbeing and of every other person in the cafe…

      • Rachel says:

        I wouldn’t have made it 20 minutes. I wouldn’t have made it 5. I also would have given the mom a piece of my mind in my very calm, rational lawyer voice, so as to not further upset the child.

  11. Holden says:

    I’m dreading the embarrassing melt downs but realize its a part of the process. I’m not sure why Anne Heche felt the need to blog about it, like it is some right of passage or test that she aced, but whatevs.

  12. fabgrrl says:

    Anne, I doubt the other people in the toy store were paying much attention. Really, a toddler having a meltdown in a toy store is nothing to write home about. It kind of goes with the territory.

  13. K says:

    Honestly, as a childless person I don’t mind kid meltdowns. It happens. No worries as long as the parents are dealing with it, and, yes, sometimes that means everyone else is uncomfortable. It takes a village, y’all!

    What I do mind is when mom or dad tries to bribe the kid out of the tantrum. That annoys the sh@t out of me, because they’re rewarding bad behavior. Little Jimmy or Susie will learn the lesson that, if they act up, Mom or Dad will give me a new toy or candy or whatnot. I’ve seen it too many times to count, and it just bugs. Reward good behavior, discipline poor behavior.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      I was a waitress in college, and once had a 5 year old SCREAM at me over and over that I was liar because we were out of chocolate milk. His mom ordered him an ice cream sundae for dinner to quite him. I was horrified.

  14. Becky1 says:

    I wonder why she immediately jumped to the conclusion that the nice woman who winked was a parent. I don’t have kids but when I see a parent out with their kids and they are struggling I try to be nice and supportive if possible.

  15. Marie Antoinette Jr. says:

    I love Anne Heche. Her particular brand of crazy has always intrigued me. And I could listen to her talk all day. She has the most amazing voice.

    She was great in “Hung”.