You know what I'm talking about. The crying over things that you can't believe they are crying about--for instance jumping out of a helicopter. And no we haven't gotten super adventurous and forced him to jump out of a helicopter. He's just started saying that he's scared to jump out of one.
The usual offenders are still there. The transition of leaving a fun place such as the child watch at the YMCA. He literally would not walk to leave and refused to go. So I tried my best to carry a 43 pounder and push the stroller with my 32 pounder. It wasn't pretty, and I was mad as heck when we made it to the car. He wouldn't let me strap him in. So at this point I am sweating bullets. I close his door, start the car and just sit in the front until he crawls into his seat. He cries all the way home.
He's at a weird stage. You can put him in time out, you can take away his toys...he literally said, "Oh you forgot these toys, can I help?" I mean what kid helps put his toys away!
So now I always get nervous when leaving somewhere fun because I'm afraid of him causing a scene.
I'm trying to use patience and not lose my cool...and to grant my boy grace because I know he's try to deal with all the emotions going on in his little body.
What has helped you deal with your threenagers?
Natalie
Wait it out until they turned 4. ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though: 3 is hard!
Oh girl! I'm riding in the same boat. Three has been a TOUGH year for us too!
ReplyDeleteAh the age of 3 to 4 - that's a tough one. Really tough. It will pass. Hang on in there!
ReplyDeleteI'm RIGHT there with you. At 3.5, Drew is definitely pushing some boundaries and much like Nolan, he's generally a mellow guy. It's SO tough to stay calm, but I try as much as I can as I know how much they soak up at this age.
ReplyDelete3 was so hard for us! Hardest of all so far for my girl! And yes, it did feel like she was a teenager trapped in a little person's body. 4, on the other hand, has been lovely.
ReplyDeleteahh 3 and 4 was hard years for us too! hang in there momma! sometimes we lose it, but the important part is how we bounce back! sometimes giving grace is learning to ask for forgiveness too. hugs!
ReplyDeleteHa! We're right there with you! Aubrey when she doesn't want to do something she collapses to the ground and says she can't walk. Ugh. I can definitely relate. Things won't be like this forever!
ReplyDeleteyea.. like others said.. 3 is just rough.. 4 is delightful though!! We gave warnings when we were leaving places. If he did a good job leaving we gave him TONS of praise and maybe something special when we got home (extra show, fruit snacks, one on one time playing whatever he wanted). If you keep standing your ground it will get easier (not perfect but easier).
ReplyDeleteUgh. I was guilty of hoisting Scarlet over my shoulder when I was eight months pregnant with Des. Then we did the kicking, screaming walk of shame back to the car.
ReplyDeleteThree was really hard for us. Four was better but still hard for us. Five seems glorious.
Des is two and he likes to throw things at people's heads.
I give up!
oh man, 3 was soooo hard. Just - UGH!
ReplyDeletethe best advice I can give is just to always follow through and be consistent with whatever rules you have laid out. We didn't go out for months once because my daughter would go NUTS at leaving time. So she had no play dates for quite some time. The boy lost every time he owned once. Literally cleared his entire room out of everything but clothes and his bed .... and some books. He had to earn each toy back with consistent good behaviour. It was hell indeed -- but they learned pretty quick that we were not going to tolerate such behaviour.
And you've already got the other side perfectly: Grace. Because yes -- sometimes they are just really tired, or hungry, or bored, or anxious and just trying to Learn About Life. Some days you let some things go and just help guide them.
My son just turned four and he sounds like he's doing a lot of the same thing yours is. It's definitely a difficult age. We will get through it though, right?
ReplyDeleteJust repeat- 3 is worse than 2, 3 is worse than 2. Seriously for my kids the three's were way worse than the twos. I remember a time when Lucas was 3 and Alex was one, she had had a blow out and I didn't have extra clothes with me for some reason- we were out to eat, finished eating, but Lucas wanted dessert. We needed to leave though and he totally lost it so I had to carry both he and a almost naked Alex out to the car, so not fun. So just remember if you are out and he causes a scene, it has happen to all of us. There might be some people who forget and give you crusty looks- but most will be thinking glad it isn't me this time as they know their turn is coming.
ReplyDeleteThree was hard for us too. There are many times we promised ice cream to avoid a scene--not our best parenting strategy. Now our son, at almost six, is always trying to "make a deal." I suppose sometimes we just need to let our children "cry it out." Just keep repeating, "I'm a good mom, I'm a good mom."
ReplyDelete