Two years ago: When my child is two, I will speak in a positive manner and not threaten him! No, I will say, you need to do X before Y can happen.
Two days ago: I will offer two chances for a positive statement and THEN I will threaten my toddler with the consequence. "Do X, or Y will happen."
Today: I will not slap my toddler. I will not slap my toddler. I will not slap my toddler. Is 8 AM too early for a drink?
(He's in his crib, 'calming down'. I am in the living room. Nobody has been slapped, except for me.)
P.S. I have come up with a sure-fire parenting technique to reduce conflict with an almost-three-year-old. If I never ask him to do anything, we will not have conflicts! Unfortunately, the inverse is true: If I ever ask him to do anything, we will have conflicts.
Oh man, I hope the rest of the day goes a bit better!!
ReplyDeletemy motto: having a baby means never drinking alone.
ReplyDeleteit is always five o'clock somewhere.
Yes! What is this about? I had heard that three was such a "wonderful, helpful" age. Is a magical transformation really just around the corner?
ReplyDeleteIn my house, it is not only requests that result in conflict, but also merely making statements. Witness:
Me: "Hey, this book says that rabbits like to eat greens!"
Him: "No! They eat cookies!"
Me: "I see you've decided to make a five car train."
Him: "I did not! It is TWENTY cars!"
Me: "Oh, you have your animals all lined up!"
Him: "No! NOOOOO!" [breaks into sobs]
This too shall pass....
ReplyDeleteSending good thoughts.
It has been one of those days, hasn't it? I hope the rest of the day went better, perhaps after nap time :) If it makes you feel any better, I've been there. Take care of yourself, and definitely let toddler chill out in his crib sometimes!
ReplyDeleteDeeeep breath. Hey, everyone's asleep now! By which I mean all the small children.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've seen this already, but it's extremely appropriate. http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/
ReplyDeleteI can relate so much! Sometimes the 2 and 3 year olds take all our patience. All those people that think "this will never be me with the toddler screaming in the supermarket because he's not allowed a chocolate bar" have not had children, or are the odd ones that have had angels and not children.
ReplyDeleteI was so wise about parenting (and full of patience, and creative ideas on how to help them blossom)....before I actually had kids! Suddenly, it was much harder than I thought.
ReplyDelete--Neighbor Lady
p.s. 3 is tough, but I can tell you that 10 and 7 are truly awesome ages. hang in there!
So true! I love ages 7-10 too.
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