Tantrums, Tantrums, Tantrums!!

Now that my little girl is almost approaching two, she has already begun with the tantrums.  Now, I know that this is a normal stage in growing up, but is there a right or wrong way to deal with them?

Being a parent is an on the job experience and no matter how many books I read they will never prepare me for the real life experience.  I could read everything that there is about tantrums, but will they really help me out.  The answer to this, at least in my situation, is yes and no.  I know that sounds like a cop out answer, but some information is useful and some information is just common sense.

Now when my little girl gets in her moods and starts throwing tantrums it's because: she doesn't want to eat what is given to her or wants to play with certain toys or even wants to drink out of certain cups.  When she starts crying and lays herself on the ground screaming, sometimes I wish that there was a pause button I could press and go to the menu screen and remove the option for tantrums.   

Obviously, this isn't a video game so I can't do that, but what I can do is try to find the root of the problem.  I kneel down or sit next to her and talk to her in calm voice asking her what's wrong.  Most of the time she will climb on me to be hugged and then she calms down, but sometimes this is not the case.  I think the hard part for them is that they can't really express what is wrong so this frustrates them even more. Sometimes, it's because they are tired and fighting a nap, that they start getting cranky.  Whatever the case, we must remember to stay calm during the situation. 

I know for me it gets frustrating sometimes, especially when I get her to stop crying.  Once I put her down or begin to walk away she starts crying again and the cycle begins all over again.  I wish there was a way to figure this out without all the screaming and crying, but I know that as time goes by this will start to become a little easier, at least I hope so.

In the meantime I will keep doing the calm voice thing, which seems to be working, and see what else I can throw in to ease her frustration.  I'm trying my best as a new parent to make this a great learning experience, so hopefully I gave you some insight on what is working for me.  Maybe my experienvce will be useful to some or just common sense to others.

Do any of you have tantrum tips or tricks you do to ease temper tantrums?  I would like to hear what you have to say and hopefully we can help each other out.