It's obviously been a long time since I've had young kids. As most of know, Ben is deployed and it's just Sam and Taylor hanging out until he comes home. If you read the literature written by the deployment pros, they will tell you that you may see a change in your child's behavior while dad (or mom) is away. As Sam can attest, the experts in this case, are correct.
This child can go from being the sweetest thing on the face of the earth, to closely resembling Satan's Spawn in just a matter of minutes. There are times where the horns come up and the fangs come out. Sometimes I swear of all my children, Sam and I are the most alike. Patience is not a virtue we possess. As we were going to dinner the other night, heading towards a nice little Amish Restaurant, Taylor begins the incessant whining that drives us NUTS. She wanted to go to McDonald's. It went something like this....in a three year old whine..."I wannnnaaaaaa go to McDonald's.....I WANNA GO TO MCDONALD'S.....I WANNA GO TO MCDONALD'S!!!" (repeat this 35 times) All three of us tried our best to say something, anything that would make her stop, including bodily harm to that damn clown. We went through the entire gamut. From reasoning, to bribing, to threatening her very existence. Nothing worked. As we were walking into the restaurant she was still chanting her love for McDonald's. Sam told us to go ahead and go in because she was going to have a little talk with Tay ...uh boy I didn't want to witness that. I'm never sure if a talk is a talk or if the talk may include a swat on the butt. I didn't want to know. I'm not sure what was said, but Tay ended up turning back into that nice little girl we love to be around.
Here's Dr Grandma Bobbie's professional opinion on the entire thing.....Small children have no idea how to articulate what's going on. They recognize the change and have no way to say "hey, I noticed that there have been some changes around here lately and well, I was wondering if there are more to come, or if I can just go with the flow on this one? Change scares me and I may need your help putting my mind at ease, so please tuck me in and maybe lay down with me for a few minutes and make me feel secure in the midst of this change" OK if a three year old said that, we would be asking Harvard to allow them to speak at commencement. However, because they can't say that, they act it out and we suffer for a few days or weeks, until their "change" then becomes normal and they are then off to the next shenanigan.
Below is a quote from someone who has a mommy blog...I found it to be so honest and funny....
"About two months after Leta turned three years old (during one of her epic, inimitable body-throwing tantrums) I remember thinking that I would rather have my vagina sewn shut than have another kid. Is that too gross?"
Fortunately, for pro-creation's sake, A sweet acting child has the opposite effect. It can be a moment where for a split second you believe you could handle ten more just like her. I'm very thankful this is not my decision to make. I need to remind everyone, especially her mama, "this too shall pass." Every stage brings a new behavior that they will annoy you and some behaviors that will make you swoon and fall in love all over again. Hang in there and never give up. The good outweighs the bad. I told Ben he needs to hurry home and resume his disciplinarian role, he said he would after he hugged her for the first few months he was home.
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