Ty is less then a month short of turning 3 years old. I considered myself warned when my sister, Christina, told me about the drama and demands of the 3’s. I even witnessed a taste of the madness when I went to visit her in Virgina with her very own 3 year old. But I am in shock, my sweet compliant little boy has turned into half monster half boy. Oh he still has his sweet side that shower me with kisses and constantly tell me that he loves me and there are chunks of time that we have so much fun together. HOWEVER when the monster decides to come out the child screams, yells, throws himself to the floor, kicks his legs, and starts beating his fits on the ground. You might be thinking…oh that sounds like a terrible twos fit but NO it does not even compare to what he used to do. Before there was just the whining and crying. I’ve heard from too many moms that 3’s are nothing compared to 2’s. I am scared! Honestly I can handle the new display of dramas, it the disrespectful talking that gets to me. YES, disrespectful talking at this age (I thought that was just a teenager thing.) His favorite thing is to tell me he wants something “right NOW!” and apparently he is old enough to make his own decisions about EVERYTHING. Obviously I must disagree with some of the things me thinks are “ok” to do, and when my parental guidance tells him “no!” he turns into a madman. Seriously what is his problem? We’ve never spoiled him and given him everything he wants so what’s the drama about not getting what he wants now? It’s interesting that it has all happened in a matter of weeks…weeks folks this radical transformation only took weeks. He gets his share of spanking but at this point I feel I could do it all day. So, my latest tactics include putting him or his toys in timeout. I’ve also started sending him to his room and closing the door (letting him throw his fits without me witnessing them and getting more upset). And the latest thing is that I make him go back to bed….telling him that if he can’t be nice then he has to go back to sleep so he can be happy.
For example this morning he found some of my money while I was taking a bath and came to me and asked if he could play with it (it was ten $1 bills) I told him he couldn’t play with that money and the kid FLIPPED OUT! He started to take off out the bathroom with it anyway but had better senses and stopped in his tracks. When I told him to put it in my hand he deliberately took them one by one and started throwing them at me verses to me. After chances to improve the attitude I told him it was time to go back to sleep (it was 10am…a few hours earlier then him regular nap time). While trying to get him settled in bed (oh yeah we aren’t at home this week we are on tour with Jeff in Baton Rouge, LA) he asked me if today was his birth. I explained it wasn’t time for his birthday and that didn’t go over well and he started arguing that it was his birthday. AHHHH! In all I can handle the fit, but what do you do about the sassy mean talk and arguing. I got to kick it into high gear I wasn’t prepared to handle this attitude for another 10 years!
5 comments:
I'm not ready for the day Brooklyn starts to do that. I just want to live in my fantasy world that she will be a sweet, innocent little girl forver!
Hey April! First of all, your son is adorable and congrats on the second one.
Brax is 3.5 and everything is a battle. He tells me NO! all the time to everything. My favorite is when I ask him to do something and he says "Are you serious? I don't think so Mommy!"
Threes are far more dramatic than twos. But this is also when they become little men and that is always adorable. Every age has is really great moments and really challenging moments. I never miss an episode of Super Nanny.
What are you talking about witnessing the "madness in Virgina" not from my seet little Levi. :)
Yesterday I had to pull the whole "straight to bed routine" because when we were at Chick-fil-A for lunch Levi was playing on the playground and when I told him it was time to leave he deliberatley looked at me and then turned and walked the other way. What in the world!?! I can't stand the disrespect either- especially when I was trying to do something fun for him anyway by going to Chick-fil-A. And your totally right- it's crazy how super sweet they can be and then out of nowhere BAM! :)
You would think I would have tons of advice for you, having 4 boys and all, but seriously, it is just something that you have to make it thru... stick to your discipline, and dont let him win those battles. You will make a few scenes in public place (like Chic-Fil-A!), but he will be all the better for it in a matter of time. You will be glad that you fought the battle now while he is younger rather than when he is older. At some point, they have to come to grips that you are in charge.
One thing I do with my boys (believe me, they get lots of spankings, but I try to come up with other methods!) is that they get quarters for doing "good deeds" like helping with chores, sharing a toy with out being asked, being sweet at dr. appts, etc. If they sass me or stamp their feet, disobey, etc, then they have to give me a quarter. That is a huge deal to them because they have worked hard to earn those quarters! Every now and then, I take them on a special "date" (individually) to the toy store to pick out something to buy with their money.
I am sorry, did that say "leave your comment here" or "leave your novel here" ???
Hang in there, April!!! :-) he is one of the cutest little half-monsters I have ever seen!!!
You're scaring me. I'm not looking forward to it. Afterschool has definately taught me the value of discipline, though. Maybe that'll be my motivation when my little monster arrives. (So far she's still mostly cute and cuddly.)
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