OK, what did you do with my sweet kid?
I'm not going to lie to you, buddy.
Sometimes you can be a pain in the butt.
Yes, this is no doubt normal. You're three. You're trying to figure out your place in the world. You're testing your boundaries. And our patience!
Beneath that charm and humor is a stinker. One who spits, screams, bites, sasses, and throws things.
Don't believe me? A week or so ago, you and Daddy were in the basement. I heard arguing. I heard Daddy scolding you. I heard you screaming and laughing. Then I heard you running up the stairs. This, I knew, meant that you were trying to leave the scene of the crime. A tactic you've been employing a lot lately. (When we put you in the timeout chair, your first reaction is to get up and run. Hello! Not the way it's supposed to happen.)
On to the escape. So there I was, standing at the stove near the top of the stairs, cooking a dinner you would no doubt refuse to eat. And I decided to help Daddy out by throwing my arm in your path. Great idea. Your progress was certainly impeded. Until you chomped down on said arm!
Dude! You do NOT bite Mommy. That is a capital offense, if there ever was one. And you're old enough to know better. Three pieces of Halloween candy ended up in the garbage over that incident. (Which wouldn't have happened if you'd actually sat in the timeout chair. But as I mentioned above, you don't seem to understand that.)
Over Thanksgiving weekend you threw several temper tantrums, spit quite a bit, yelled at us when we said something you didn't like, even tried hitting a few times. You lost privileges as a result. It's hard when you're three, I know, but you have to realize that there are consequences. Although I have a feeling that realization is going to take a while to sink in. We'll make it through, though!
Even though many of my memories of the past few days have been of the battles, Mr. Cute has made many appearances too.
Like when you wished Lucy a merry Christmas tonight, then shouted, "Merry Christmas to everyone!"
Like when you jumped up and down and yelled, "Hooray!" when I offered to take you to the mall the other night to ride the coin-operated toys.
Like when you asked me for your sunglasses as we drove to day care in the semi-darkness because the brake lights of the car in front of us were "killing my eyes, Momma!"
Like this morning when I was hugging Daddy goodbye. And you came over and hugged our legs. So Daddy picked you up and you wrapped your arms around both of our necks and hugged us really tight. It was the best hug ever.
