Friday, May 8, 2009

Terrible 3's

I'm not trying to complain. Maybe I am. But are all 3 1/2 years olds as hard as Reagan? She seriously throws tantrums over the silliest things. Yesterday she had a tantrum over me eating half of her otter pop. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten it. I understand that. But it was melting and Skyler and I thought it looked good. She had already had one too. Anyway, that is not the point. When she saw what had happened she FREAKED. She yelled and screamed for a good 20 minutes. Now this happens probably AT LEAST once a day. Sometimes on a bad day it is several times. I'm just wondering if this is normal. If it will EVER get better. It feels like it won't. It feels like I am going crazy. Actually, I think I already AM crazy. It feels like I'm going crazier. How do moms stay sane? How do you learn how to not resort to the immaturity level of your child. Like sticking out your tongue at them, repeating everything they say, or having your own adult temper tantrum of sorts. I never thought that motherhood would be this hard. It tests my limits each day.
Disclaimer: I do love Reagan. At times she is very charming and cute. That is what is so hard. I KNOW she can act better.

9 comments:

Maleen said...

I'm sorry. That sounds really hard. My three year old cries about everything. Her shoes falls off, she cries. I flush the toilet for her, she cries. I move her blanket from where she put, she cries. She doesn't throw a lot of tantrums but she does yell at people sometimes. My other girls did not do this, so I am hoping it is a phase. At least, I can't imagine her doing this when she is twenty (hopefully).

Megan said...

If there is a silver lining I've heard that toddlers that get it all out of their system when their young are supposed to make very easy teenagers.

Kate is starting to tantrum more - I've been putting myself in a timeout or removing her from me within the house so that I can calm down. When we are in a store I haven't found a good solution yet except not to go anywhere without Rich.

Petersen Family said...

Reagan is so related to Kolton. Just so you know he's 8 and his behavior has not improved much. When I get super frustrated with him, I try to stop and think what my life would really be like if I didn't have him. It helps sometimes

Hall Family said...

Hey Karen I don't know if you remember me, Im Whitney Larsen's friend from S.C. and I married Greg's friend from Ohio, Jeff. come look at our blog and I'm with you on the terrible 3's...

XYZinn said...

Karen, this is the story of my life. I feel like this every day. I am seeing more and more grey hairs! Ugh. I just wish this stage would pass quickly. And they can be so sassy too, huh?

Melanie and Ernie said...

So you're saying the don't grow out of tantrums, my little guy throws fits now if I leave the room.

The Richardsons said...

My mom has this crazy theory that little girls start getting into their monthly hormone "rhythms" when they're toddlers. Kind of like they're practicing for puberty. Apparently all of us moms deal with the same insanity, so my thought is, maybe we're not going crazy, we're just joining in on the true "normal" :)

Liz said...

I found your Crock pot cooking blog the other day and have put several recipes on my menu for the next few weeks. So I naturally wanted to see the genius behind the blog.

My daughter is now 4 and went through the same thing. I read lots of books and here's what we came up with:
1,2,3, Magic. I really liked this book. It talks about "stop" behaviors (things you don't want them to do) and "start" behaviors (things you want them to do that they aren't). Basically "stop" behaviors get time-outs at this age and "start" behaviors get privileges removed. Tantrums and whining have definitely decreased. But you MUST be consistent! It really is "magic"!

Second tactic was implementing a schedule. I noticed by the end of the day, we both wanted to pull our hair out! I realized she was just bored a lot of the time. So I made up a schedule for her. Literally having some sort of activity, playtime, quiet time, reading, etc. for EVERY hour of her day. It took a few days to get into, but man it worked wonders! I slacked off for a few weeks when it started getting warmer and then wondered why she was acting so horribly again. The schedule got put back in place and now I have my happy daughter back!

Sorry it's a novel, but hope it helps. I'm for sure no expert, but these are just some things that work for me. Let me know if I can help in any way! (bethhill82@gmail.com) Us moms got to stick together! :)

Vanessa said...

Hi. I have a three year old and a newborn. Let's just say it as been very difficult with the three year old. Did you try that 123 Magic book that was suggested in your comments? I wonder if it works. I found your blog by googling for blog with 3 year old and baby. I may call my son's pediatrician to see if she can recommend a specialist to help me come up with some coping strategies with my 3 year old. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. . .it's nice to know I am not alone.

Vanessa