About a couple of months ago I had one of those days that parents experience every now and then. You know, the kind of day where your kid(s) are apparently the devil all of the sudden. Things just don’t go well!
I want to share my experience, but also my thoughts…
So my youngest son, who will be three in just a couple of weeks, is the one who decided to be difficult. He is normally pretty well behaved I would say, but that one day he had some kind of possession take him over as he just wasn’t my sweet little boy. He was literally a troublemaker!
It first started with the living room window. He had managed to figure out how to unlock and raise the window. That in and of itself is no biggie. Where the problem comes in is that he also managed to figure out how to knock the screen out. So as I walk into the living room area, there is this window with no screen. It had been knocked out to the ground below, which isn’t that far, but it’s just a hassle to get it back into place.
While I was fixing that, he had managed to get some coins (and I don’t even remember where they came from because we do not leave coins laying around). My oldest son puts any money he finds into his piggy bank. Seems normal to me. Well, my younger son thought the best place to put the coins was in the toilet. *Sigh*. I think he even flushed once, but am not sure. I just remember hearing some clinking noises from the bathroom area as I was in the living room area fixing his first mess.
Then as I’m in the bathroom getting the coins out of the toilet and drying them off, my two-year-old had a pizza pan brought into my bedroom and decided to squirt hand sanitizer all over it. Where does he get these ideas!??!?!?!?!?! That was my third mess to clean up from him.
Thankfully, that was the worst of it all. He was also pretty abusive that day to his older brother, but of course his older brother kind of dishes it out back to him. Ah, brotherly love, right?!?
Needless to say, this was a stressful day! But here are my thoughts…
First of all, it’s not like I can’t handle my kids or that I’m not watching them. All of these things happen so fast, and usually when I had to quick go to the bathroom or take care of some other matters in the home.
Secondly, I assume this happens to every parent, no matter how many kids you have. Even with one child, I can imaging there might be days you want to pull your hair out. As they age, they get curious and expressive, and that’s putting it mildly.
Third, instead of getting mad and yelling, et cetera, I decided to remain calm, take care of the messes and then talk with him about it. I gave him cuddles because I feel some of the acting out can be related to his connection with me. Whether or not that was the best response, I don’t know. I do know he hasn’t been that devilish since, though 🙂
One thing I like to remember is that all these hard days pass quickly. It’s so important to enjoy your child at every age because they grow up so fast, and before you know it, you will wish they were back to this young age again.
If you’re finding yourself in a day like I had, I feel for you. Good luck, and remember to love them to pieces regardless!