Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Terrible 3's

Every so often, I use my blog to vent about things that are happening in my household.  Right now, the focus is on my 3 year old son.  For about a month now, he's been going through what I can only describe as the "terrible 3's".  When the tantrums started at age 2, I assumed that the "terrible" behavior would limit itself to the 2nd year.  My son, as cute as he is, is one tantrum away from being sent to Nana's house (fyi....Nana can be scary!).  We're struggling with him breaking anything he can get his hands on (including his own dresser), stealing and hiding things (candy, cookies, coins, etc...), shoving large amounts of trash or toilet paper into the toilet or sink, dumping out all of the soil from my planters and seedlings......you get the picture.  We've also been experiencing a little violent behavior (kicking and hitting).  Now, I know most of this is "normal" for a toddler, but when it gets to a certain point, it makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong.  I stay at home with him (which I did not do for my daughter).  The past week I have accomplished very little in regards to cleaning, homework, and taking care of my own needs because if I take my eyes of of him for a moment, something else breaks.  I have tried different methods of punishment, both negative and positive.  I have even ignored bad behavior, and rewarded only the good behavior.  I even went as far as to not yell, but rather spoke in a calm voice to him, in an attempt to somehow calm him, and reason with him.

I realize I might be describing my son as some sort of terror, but he is not.  He is kind, loving, and full of life.  As crazy as my kids may be, that's what makes them unique and amazing little human beings.  At this moment, he is draped across my body telling me he is so tired (did you really think he'd let me type a blog post without him?).  Whatever I do next to correct his behavior, it is going to have to be consistent.  So if you are a mom of a "terrible toddler", what methods of discipline/encouragement worked best for your child?  

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