Wondering how to deal with tantrums — especially the ones that explode in public? The Tantrum TRUTH is that your child isn’t misbehaving; they’re signaling a deep emotional hunger they can’t put into words.

Discover the simple parenting shift that turns overwhelming moments into connection instead of chaos.

🔗 Full Episode Details Here»

🔥Join Tantrum Tamer Workshop

5 Key Takeaways:

1️⃣ Tantrums aren’t misbehavior — they’re emotional hunger.

Children melt down when their nervous system feels overwhelmed, starved for connection, certainty, or significance.

2️⃣ Public meltdowns aren’t “performance tantrums.”

They’re primal survival signals—your child’s way of saying, “I can’t find you, and I need your calm.”

3️⃣ Negative attention still meets emotional hunger.

Even yelling gives a child eye contact, intensity, and certainty—reinforcing the tantrum cycle without meaning to.

4️⃣ The real parenting shift is connection over control.

When you pause, attune, and meet the need beneath the behavior, the storm settles faster and trust grows stronger.

5️⃣ Emotional needs are ancient and hardwired.

Every tantrum reflects a basic human truth: children thrive on connection, presence, and felt safety—not perfection.

Timestamps

00:00 The Whole Foods Moment Begins

00:18 The Cry That Stops the Store

00:42 A Mom Holding It Together

01:05 Slowing the Moment Down

01:20 Welcome to the Anya Garcia Show

01:45 My Journey from Law to Homeschooling

02:22 Why Parenting Feels Overwhelming

02:46 You Don’t Need More—You Need Alignment

03:15 Your Child’s Limitless Potential

03:33 Back to the Waiting Child

03:56 “Mom… how long?”

04:18 From Waiting to Whining to Meltdown

04:45 “Stop it right now”—The Moment of Locking Eyes

05:03 Hidden Emotional Needs Being Met

05:27 Not a Bad Kid. Not a Bad Mom. A Human Needing Connection

05:50 The Nervous System Truth Behind Tantrums

06:12 Tantrums Are Communication, Not Misbehavior

06:32 The Parenting Shift: Control to Connection

06:55 The Emotional Hunger Beneath Tantrums

07:17 The 3 Emotional Hungers: Connection, Significance, Joy

07:47 When All Three Needs Are Missing

08:12 Why Kids Escalate to Get Needs Met

08:38 Why Negative Attention “Works” for the Brain

09:02 The Tantrum Cycle and Why It Repeats

09:23 Your Child Isn’t Testing You—They’re Reaching for You

09:47 Emotions Are Not Enemies—They Are Messengers

10:10 Introducing the Tantrum Tamer Workshop

10:36 Tools You’ll Learn Inside

11:00 Why Your Child Needs Attunement, Not Perfection

11:22 Final Reminder: Connection, Not Correction

11:45 Closing: Breathe, Connect, You’ve Got This

Resources & Links

🔗 Full Episode Details Here»

🔥Join Tantrum Tamer Workshop

📚 Research & Sources Mentioned

• Robbins, T. (2001). Awaken the Giant Within. Free Press.
• Edmeades, E. (2018). The Human Diet: The Foundation of WildFit. WildFit Publishing.
• Neufeld, G., & Maté, G. (2006). Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. Ballantine Books.
• Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind. Random House.
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2011). Key Concepts: Serve and Return.

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