Year(s) of the Tantrum

So my sweet little girl is quickly creeping up on the dreaded "terrible two's." In less than 4 months she will be two years old and already the tantrum gauge is starting to peak. In my efforts to practice positive discipline, I have been trying to talk her down so to speak. Help her work through the outbursts and solve the root cause; instead of punishing her for bad behavior. 90% of the time it works. I can somehow manage to talk her through the problem and avoid meltdowns. Until last night...

-insert dramatic themed music here-

After a long, hot exhausting day with mommy and daddy flying kites, Miss M was beyond the sleepy point and broke down after a failed attempt to go potty. She screamed and cried and SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

Do you know how hard it is to stifle your gut reaction to curse/yell/scream when you have been slapped? Very. Very. Hard. Even though I choked down the anger welling up in my throat, she saw it in my face and immediately started wailing (even harder).

I don't ever want to lose it. I don't want to scream and yell at her. I don't want her to cry because I have lost my voice berating her because she "misbehaved".

I know how that feels.