I'm not going to lie - being the parent of a three-year old, or as I've come to learn - a threenager - is really really hard. I was warned about the terrible twos, which quite honestly, weren't really terrible. But a three-year old? Whoa. I'll admit - being 8 months pregnant does not help my patience or sanity. My fuse is very short right now which is not a good thing when I'm home with Ethan by myself for 9 hours a day. It has led to some epic meltdowns - by epic I mean resulting in a combination of some or all of the following toddler behaviors: crocodile tears, whining, screaming, kicking, hitting, pushing, spitting, scratching, biting, and throwing things. In no particular order, here are a rundown of the top five major meltdowns of summer 2015.
#5 - I'm hungry!!! I decided to take Ethan to The Sandbox to play for the morning. I brought his lunch so he could eat it there, play a little longer, and then come home and nap. He played, he ate his lunch, he played some more, we came home. And then, the epic tantrum ensued because he needed/wanted to eat another lunch. My dilemma? Was it truly hunger or nap-time stalling tactics? Still not sure. Tantrum traits - tears, whining, screaming, kicking, hitting, scratching
#4 - I want to do it!!! Dinner was in the works - Ben was grilling Italian sausage, I was cooking the peppers and onions on the stove. Ethan loves to help, in fact, it's one of the ways I can redirect him out of almost any less than desirable behavior. However, he wanted to help by stirring the peppers and onions, which were burning hot, sizzling and spitting hot oil. I said no. Epic meltdown ensued. Tantrum traits - whining and screaming. PS - Did I mention he was only wearing his underwear? So imagine - hot sizzling oil near an almost naked toddler. Yikes.
#3 - Is it awake time now? One day, Ethan decided not to nap. He was definitely tired, but just couldn't settle his body or mind to actually sleep. This resulted in lots of nap-time avoidance behavior: jumping on the bed, jumping off the bed, asking me for something (water, a snack, etc.), needing to show me something (see, Mommy, I have a tiny little scratch on my elbow), singing, emptying shelves of all the toys and books, etc. After an hour of his stalling tactics he came downstairs and said, "Is it awake time now?" How can it be awake time when he hasn't even gone to sleep yet?! This was a special meltdown, because the initial epic meltdown was the Mommy Meltdown. It was one of those days where I really needed Ethan to nap. I was so worn out physically and mentally that I needed time to take a break and recharge for the rest of the day. So, the mommy meltdown was characterized by crying, whining, and screaming. Eventually, I relented and let Ethan just lay in my bed with me and watch a movie while I rested. Unfortunately, the lack of a nap caught up to him around 5pm when he began exhibiting the following tantrum traits: hitting, kicking, spittingn(that's really fun!), and finally, crying crocodile tears because he was soooooo tired. Movie rest time just did not cut it. It took some cuddles from mama, but he fell asleep at 5:30 and slept through the night.
#2 - Can I watch my iPad? It's difficult to pinpoint one specific meltdown related to the iPad, because there are so many. They pretty much go like this...Ethan wakes up at 6am and so I let him use the ipad for about an hour while I wake up and get ready for the day. Inevitably, at some other point during the day, Ethan will ask if he can watch his iPad, to which my response is, "No, honey. You can watch it tomorrow morning." Tantrum traits: scowling, yelling, hitting, throwing the iPad (that's my FAAAAVORITE thing, when Ethan throws the iPad), etc.
#1 - I want a drink of water!!! This takes the cake for the most epic meltdown of the summer. I took Ethan to the playground and came prepared with a snack and a bottle of water. Ethan decided he wanted to trek to the water fountain up the hill, which this preggo mama was not going to do. That's what I brought the water bottle for! Ethan proceeded to run up the hill, so I proceeded to walk to the car, thinking he would follow me. My plan worked and he did follow me to the car, but not without the typical tantrum traits of screaming, crying, yelling, and the new creative tantrum trait -throwing rocks. Due to the public nature of this event, this was one of the worst.
BONUS Epic Meltdown - The Target Tantrum - I forgot about this one (how is that possible?), but it's a doozy. Ethan wouldn't stay next to me while we were at Target. I gave him warnings but he just couldn't follow the rules, so I picked him up attempted to put him in the cart. He started kicking and screaming, yelling, "Help me! Help me!" as if I were trying to abduct him from the store. He was wriggling so much I couldn't put him in the cart so I put him under my arm and carried my flailing child out of the store as he screamed the whole way to the car. Fortunately, I got a lot of compassionate looks from other Target shoppers No one called CPS, thank goodness. Tantrum traits - screaming, kicking, crying, flailing.
Ethan being three has definitely been challenging, but being three has also been the most fun stage. He says the funniest, most random things. But when out of the blue he says to me, "Mommy, I love you," I almost forget how hard raising a threenager can be. Almost.
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