We're really lucky in that our son makes up for the sleep we lose with sweetness. And he's never actually hit the terrible twos, but makes up for that with short but fierce bursts of fury that last about a week or two and go away. This week is apparently one of those weeks.
As a parent, I've found that for my son, my patience is almost boundless - almost. I can endure hitting, kicking, screaming and throwing with a firm, even voice and haul a struggling, shrieking toddler to timeout with calm indifference. But today I just lost it.
His end-of-season allergies have hit him particularly hard this year, plus I can see just the craggy tip of a molar starting to poke under the gums. He's drooling non-stop, snotty and gooey and clingy and conflicted - "I want Mommy," he sobs in a lost voice. "Pick me up please." As soon as I pick him up, he manages to sound both imperious and pathetic as he cries, "Put me down. Put me down now." We'll repeat a couple of times and I'll get exasperated and refuse to do it again, telling him that it's okay to want to be held, and I'll happily hold him as long as he needs me to, but that I don't like going up and down, up and down.
Anyway, the last couple of days have been worse than usual, even at daycare where he tends to be the easiest kid in his room. Apparently he's been dumping all the toys in the room, refusing to pick them up, then in and out of timeout until finally the toys are away. He was even described in a low voice by his teacher as a "shit disturber" when he gave both of us that look, never a good sign. The same goes at home and in the car, which is where I finally started yelling at him. Even worse, he used my own words against me. After a few moments of stunned silence (I raise my voice maybe once every two or three months, so at least it's effective at getting his attention, even though I always feel stupid after), he says calmly. "Mommy, are you done screaming and yelling? Do you need a timeout?" Good grief.
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