beautifulinmyeyes.net

For most of my life, much ado has been made by parents I knew about the “terrible twos.”  I heard about the tantrums, the whining, the lack of flexibility, the do-it-myself attitude, and the transformation of an adorable baby to a tyrant of a toddler.

Are you ready for this one?  I was foolish enough to believe that we were somehow going to get lucky and pass this all by.  People would regale me with stories of horrible behavior and screaming fits and I felt lucky.  My kid is developing wonderfully but has had the most pleasant disposition of any two year old I know.  Now, not for a moment did I believe this had anything to do with parental skill…I just believed that maybe somehow we were being spared the terrible twos after all we had been through with Aidan’s start.

It has begun.  It is like somebody flipped a switch this week.  If something can possibly be done by Aidan and I do it…hell will be raised.  “Do IT MYself!!!”  If I can’t seem to anticipate his every desire, hell will be raised.  He asked me for crackers yesterday.  I grabbed the goldfish crackers and was greeted with “AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!! NO!!!”  and him pointing furiously to the cabinet.  I asked what he wanted.  In an exasperated, tantruming scream he yelled, “Brown crackers!”   One other day this week, he was throwing a fit and I told him to go in his room and he could come out when he was done.  As I put chicken into a marinade for dinner, I listened to him over the baby monitor.  He was screaming and tantruming and then I heard him throw a few toys!  I was half shocked and half amused.  I am glad he didn’t see me, because I had a little smile on my face.  I am not sure why some of this is funny.  He emerged almost five minutes later, red-faced and head down.  I asked him if he was done.  He gave me a quick nod.  I asked him if he had anything to say to me.  He mumbles “I sorry.”  And it was over.  But I am quite sure this is only a precursor of what is coming.

I suddenly feel that maybe I am not cut out for this.  Do I really have the skills to parent him through this stage?

In checking with my friends, over half of them laughed and then said, “Oh, 2 wasn’t bad.  Age 3 was ridiculous!”  Why had nobody told me this?  I guess I can find comfort in the fact that my son is doing developmentally appropriate things. 

This new tyrant child has also brought quite an appetite along with him.  I am astounded at how much food this child is eating this week!  Today, I made him a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch.  Granted, only a half sandwich, but he had already had a bunch of cheese and crackers.  I left the table for 2 minutes to put laundry from the washer into the dryer and his sandwich was GONE!  Then he asked me for a cookie.  I am thinking we are about to get yet another growth spurt.  This kid is going to be so darn tall.  He is already over 40″ tall.  He is taller than every child in his Little Gym class and some of them are a good half year older than him!

I decided I am feeling a little Mama Burnout.  I have only ever had one night away from my son in his whole life.  So I am going to take a break and recoup.   I am going away next weekend to visit my oldest friend (we met freshman year in college).  It will be my first weekend of leaving my two boys home alone together.  They will have a great time, I am sure.  It will allow me to rest up, take stock of what I have accomplished in nearly 3 years of parenting, and steel myself for the test of wills.  Of course it will also allow Lisa and I to talk, reminisce, and of course do some drinking.  Don’t all old college buddies drink when they get together?