Have you ever noticed how the second your kid starts doing something completely awesome, they all of a sudden start testing boundaries? The sucky thing is that they start testing them in new ways.
Over the last week, our son potty trained himself. After fighting with him for seven months, I finally threw in the towel over Fourth of July weekend and said, "Hey, it's your poop and pee - you go in your pull-up or on the toilet, but I'm done asking if you're ready to go and I'm done fighting about it. When you're ready, you tell me." Four days later, our son decides he's done with diapers and starts using the toilet consistently with just a few reminders and two accidents. Had I known it was as simple as handing over the reins, I would've just done that a long time ago.
Anyway, his new-found toilet prowess also resulted in sleeplessness (goodbye, naps and a normal bedtime) and him telling my husband for the first time that he didn't like him. You can probably imagine how well that sat with him. I tooled around on the Internet, interested in others' experiences with kids saying such things and came up with a blog that informed me that such behavior was a "strong sign" that the child had ADD. Yet another blog indicated that it was a sure sign of clinical depression. Still another said that it was bad parenting, while another indicated a learning disability. All these blogs indicated that a visit to the pediatrician was absolutely necessary. Wait, what?
Kids are absolute, complete jerks sometimes. Toddlers have no filters. I'll admit that there are a lot children out there who probably have medical issues resulting in poor behavior but who haven't been diagnosed, but isn't parenting stressful enough without assuming that everything your kid does is a sure sign of something that requires medication or behavior modification therapy?
The longer I live and the more I read, the more self-evident the following "truths" become. From before my child's conception 'til my death, I must realize:
-My child is damaged and requires medication
-It's all my fault
-Everyone is full of crap
-So am I
2 comments:
Hah. If so many people think a change in sleeping patterns (which seems to be coinciding with a developmental leap) and telling a parent that the kid doesn't like him anymore is a sign of depression, ADD, yadda yadda, then what would they make of a 2 year old who tells people to "go away" when he's mad and means it? (They'd probably think he had autistism or some social disorder or something)
Kids development doesn't go on a smooth curve. Its in stops and starts and sometimes leaps and bounds. And when that happens, the rest of their lives get messed up while they try to cope with some new thought pattern or skill.
Ragsy sounds completely normal to me :)
BTW, I have a car seat of yours from my SIL. We'll have to arrange some time to get together for the transfer. And do you need any other baby gear? I think we hae a swing, doorway jumper, exersaucer, additional car seats, and a whole host of other stuff that you're welcome to borrow for the new little one :)
Aren't kids delightful? I swear, I think Ragsy would be a good instructor in Sensitivity Training: What Not to Do. Anyway, I'd love to get together sometime soon. Let me know when works for you.
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