Like a Light Switch

Kevin said it best last evening - "toddlers are like a light switch. On, off, On, off..." My gawd. Last evening was an "event" in our house. There was much crying, red faces, screaming, threats and that was just from the adults. I kid. I mean we did have red faces & there were threats bandied about but mostly the crying and screaming came from Matthew.

I think we broke the record with four FOUR time outs. Two threats of going straight to bed (one that was carried out, sort of) and one threat of taking his blankie away (oy the screaming on that one...)

Like a light switch (so in between each on there was a sweet kind Matthew boy going on...)

Switch flip #1: 30 seconds after getting into the car after picking Matthew up at Kelly's house. Kevin went in the opposite direction then we went the night before to see the "DIGGGGGGGGGGGERS". Oh AND he threw his blanket over his head into the back seat area where we could not get it. He threw a fit over both things and the minute the construction site came into view he stopped screaming and laughed. It was insane.

Switch flip #2: Throwing rocks on a bike ride with Kevin after Kevin told him nicely to stop. (TIME OUT #1)

Switch flip #3: Wanting his blanket, a sip of water AND a nose wipe while serving his 3 minute time out.

Switch flip #4: "I WANTTTTTTTTTTT TO GO GET THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRIES AND TOMMMMMMMATOESSSS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW" (for the love of gawd...)

Switch flip #5 (more us then him): Dinner has been hell lately. Matthew won't eat which is fine but he needs to sit in his chair for at least a few minutes, that is the rule at this time and he must ask to be excused as well. Lately he has taken to throwing food (??? WHA...), clinking his fork/spoon on the table (a habit we are STILL trying to break from BDLC), standing up (and reaching for stuff), and calling us "names". BUT really listening in the biggest issue. There were THREE more time outs during dinner one of which resulted in the going to bed right now.

Switch flip #5: Getting ready for bed after talking about why he was in his room already. This was followed closely by #6,7, & 8 which included teeth brushing, putting on PJs and getting a band aid for his boo-boo.

Switch flip #9: Getting a book for bed, going to bed and you know actually sleeping.

There was one other incident where he was sweetly blowing raspberries on my belly and the expression on his face was one of amazement as Pancake kicked hard every time he did it. However even as I asked him to be gentle with soft touches - he just kept blowing the raspberries harder and harder despite my soft kind words. I finally had to get up and walk away from him. He thought this was quite funny...

Oh and did I mention that Kevin just walked away from most of this at one point to go watch TV in our bedroom leaving me to deal with devil boy?!

This morning? More of the EXACT same behavior. Tired I tell you, tired. We have listening ears and many threats but boy am I tired of using all my energy and the small amount of time I have with Matthew each morning/evening being alternately pissed off and frustrated with my child...

One of my co workers asked how Matthew was and I said "great! for not listening..." He laughed his ass off at me and said "Christina that is not going to change until he is maybe 33, if that." I guess I better get used to this, huh!?

Some whine with that cheese?

Matthew has taken to whining. It is charming and lovely to suddenly hear his sweet darling little voice pitch into a whiny fervor over the amount of mashed potatoes I gave him or "Matthew go outside for feather" even though we should have left five minutes ago for daycare and holy shit we are going to be late for work! I hardly noticed that he started whining until recently. It dawned on me when I heard Kevin say "you need to stop using that voice because I cannot understand you when you talk like that." I was all in the dark about the whining thing. Like 'OMG my son whines' (scoff...)

As if this was not ever going to happen - just like the nine million other things I always said pre-child that MY child would not do! Ha, we are SO naive before having a baby, aren't we?!

All kids whine really - I mean all kids do things you hope they do not do like throw temper tantrums in public (yeah, because we have had an resurgence in this: Kroger last evening and Wonderlab on Wednesday.) I am laughing as I type this for two reasons. One: The looks people give you when your little darlin' is screaming bloody murder because you would not let him play with the bottles of wine on the bottom shelf of the alcohol isle. Two: Because when we went to Touch a Truck, this little girl was throwing a wicked good temper tantrum which everyone turned to watch. Matthew & I and another mom & her son were sitting under the shade of a tree having a drink and the mom turned to me and said "we all know they have them and know how it feels but aren't you glad that is not us right now?!" I nodded and truly agreed with her at that point.

I have to say that of all the things that could possibly annoy a person - you know, nails on the chalkboard, temper tantrums, a whiny child - miraculously my short tempered, impatient self does not get annoyed with whining. Perhaps I have been listening to myself my whole life so I am just used to it... What ever the case may be, I am oddly and uncharacteristically calm when it comes to the whine that my son emits.

We are not really making a big deal out of the whine. We are just using common sense to deal with it but it is a new "stage"!

On a separate but related note, why is when our children were babies we were all into the stages of development and excitedly wanted to tell everyone about how brillant our babies were but as toddlers, the stages all involve some new and painful lesson in Parenting 101:
How to deal with whining.
How to deal with temper tantrums.
How to get your child to go to the potty.
How to get your child to sleep in a big kid bed.
How to run away screaming because I am having information overload and my child is getting to all the stages I don't want and not getting to the stages I do want!

So I ask you would you like some whinnnnne with that cheese? Bring it on, baby, bring it on!