Thursday, May 16, 2013

Terrible Three's

I've heard that there's the terrible two's, and then there's the terrible three's.  Boy were people right.  We had some rough times right around this time last year, as she was heading into her second birthday.  They were rough for many reasons.... I don't think I was ready for my loving little girl to suddenly turn into a temper tantrum throwing toddler.  I was pregnant.  I had never lived through it and was quite unable to tell how much she understood.

It's different now.  For one, while we remain in speech therapy, she is doing much more talking and I KNOW she understands.  I'm not pregnant, and I've now lived through it.

BUT.

This is SO much worse than it was last year.  This is all out screaming, throwing herself around, laying on the floor and kicking her legs and flailing her arms, screaming, head banging, screaming tantrums.  Did I mention screaming?  It's heartbreaking.  I see why some parents give in.  It's so hard sometimes to stand my ground.  But she gets her stubborn from me.

Tonight it started because I gave her some raspberries to snack on (she asked for them).  She has an issue with eating food with a boo boo (that's a whole nother post), so she started throwing some raspberries in the sink on the side with the garbage disposal.  So I told her if they have boo boo's they taste better (sometimes this works), but that didn't stop it.  So then I asked her nicely to stop.  She didn't.  I explained if she didn't I would take them away.  She didn't.  So I took them away.

The tantrum commenced.

So I held her and tried to comfort her, it didn't work.  Then she wanted TV.  Which I told her she had to throw away her yogurt container from this morning, eat dinner, and then she could watch a show.  (yeah, we had to get up EARLY and K is out of town, so the container was still sitting there LOL).  She grabbed the container and made it all the way out to the garbage in the kitchen, then threw them on the floor and wanted MAMA to throw it away.

No go girly.

So she threw another fit, not that the first one had ever really ended.  That lasted until dinner was on the table.  Then she finally calmed down, picked up the yogurt container and threw it away and came and had dinner.  Then she was great for the rest of the night.

Oy Vey.

4 comments:

  1. Oh no. Tantrums are no fun but it sounds like you're doing the right thing. We've had a bit of a bumpy ride leading up to and following Bean's birthday. Hopefully they'll both get it out of their system soon. Thinking of you!

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  2. I'm with you, for us three has definitely been more "terrible" than two, some days are good and some days are not so good. All I can do is keep reminding myself that it's a phase, it does't always help in the moment, but in the overall picture it does. Plus, when she's being her sweet three-year-old self, it reminds me that it's totally worth it.

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  3. Our son was super during that age...not much for throwing fits. Now, our daughter on the other hand was terrible for years. I recommend "love and logic" for the non-spirited child...and any book on how to deal with spirited children if love and logic doesn't work.

    Stay strong...all the hard work you do now sets the pace for life. Great job!

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  4. Ugh 3. I hate 3. The good thing about it is that it's time-limited. Hang in there, mama. 4 is lovely :)

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