The lovely and articulate Arwen posted yesterday about how we love our children differently, because they are different little people, after all. The part that rang truest for me was about how we, as parents, are in a different time in our lives when each child is born, so naturally we notice and appreciate the kids' traits in different ways. (Think I could use that word one more time?? Different!)
But ON THE OTHER HAND. Wow, are all kids the same when it comes to toddler tantrums. We've been seeing KT's dark side lately -- more specifically, I've been seeing it. She doesn't seem to wind up to eleven as much for her Daddy -- and it's eerily similar to when AJ was a whiny, fit-pitching 2 (and 3 and 4) year old.
Last night, let's see, what set her off first? I wouldn't give her an M&M before dinner. Right. And then it was, "Juuuuuuuice. I wanna juice." And 30 seconds later, "NO JUICE. [hits table for emphasis]" And then the wailing and whining began in earnest, for no reason, and continued all through dinner. We took her upstairs for a serious, In Your Crib Time-Out, but even that didn't stop her. It was just one of those nights, I guess. She got mad that I took her saggy, falling off diaper completely off. I think she wanted to do it herself. She got so pissed off during her bath that we removed her, barely washed, and put her to bed with no stories.
I know it's all minor, and thanks to my being in a different place in life, I have better perspective on it than 3 years ago, when I was convinced AJ was posessed by the devil. I mean, yeah I still get worked up by it, but it doesn't drive me to tears (or hasn't yet). Aside: I nearly melt after she's had a good crying jag and gets those hiccupy, short little sniffling spells. Hhhh-hhh-hhaaaaaaa. So cute. And sad.
But my, how history repeats itself.
3 comments:
LCS is the same! She saves her whiniest behavior for me. Husband confirms it, it is not just in my head. And my other kids were NOT like that, so it feels like she is 1000 times more difficult than is normal. But I know she is not. And she is also very funny when she wants to be. ;)
And a YES from me, too! Madison is pretty much a charmer for her Daddy. I get the whining. And as with Nicole, husband agrees. My lax disciplinary methods may be at fault, or maybe it's just safer to let it all out with your Momma. It's funny you mention the diaper thing. M still wears diapers at night, and when she is tired (when I have to wake her up in a.m. or change a dirty diaper after she goes to sleep), she flips out! Love her, though! :)
BAH! Don't tell me that this repeats itself. Two has become SASSY like nothing I've ever seen in our house in the past week or so. We've been doing a lot of timeouts too.
I'm glad you've got such a great perspective on it. Mind if I borrow it for a while?
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