Somebody figured out he's two! How stinkin' awesome for me!
I was blaming it on teething. Dada is trying to convince me it's a cold. But here it is, about a month after it started, and Isaac is becoming a bigger pill-bug by the hour. There are public tantrums; there are private tantrums. There is the incessant need to push or smack other kids, especially those littler than him, should they so much as touch anything he has decided is "MINE!" Should I tell him not to do something, he will repeat doing it until I finally give him a time-out.
It is quite obvious that he is a smart kid. He fully knows what is going on, and he also knows what is right and wrong, what is nice and what is mean. When he gets a time-out, I ask him, "Isaac, do you know why you got a time-out?" "Yes," he replies. "No push Ella!" His problem is that there is just the tiniest vapor of impulse control. On one of his better days last Friday, we met Ella and her family at the park in the evening. The whole way there, I pumped him up as though for a spelling bee:
Me: Now Isaac, we don't push Ella. We don't hit Ella.
Isaac: No push Ella! No hit Ella!
Me: You got it!
Isaac: You got it! No push Ella! No hit Ella, you got it!
There were at least two points during this same trip where I saw him reach his hand up to give Ella a smack on the head, or put his hands toward her in an attempt to push her... where suddenly he stopped, obviously putting two and two together, and retracted his hands. It was miraculous. And it didn't last more than twenty minutes.
He is freaking me out. I don't know what to do with him, because suddenly my superiorly delightful, angel child won't do a thing I tell him, and won't sit through even a dinner at Red Robin without pitching a violent, kicking fit. I think the worst part about all this is not just that this is my first time, really, being around a 2-year-old. It's not just that I don't have any clue if what he is doing is normal, if it will pass, or if I am doing the right things regardless of whether or not they are working now. No, the worst thing is looking at my darling mellow angel baby Jacob, knowing that in two years I will be reliving this crap all over again through him. Let's just hope the first one is over himself by then.
It is quite obvious that he is a smart kid. He fully knows what is going on, and he also knows what is right and wrong, what is nice and what is mean. When he gets a time-out, I ask him, "Isaac, do you know why you got a time-out?" "Yes," he replies. "No push Ella!" His problem is that there is just the tiniest vapor of impulse control. On one of his better days last Friday, we met Ella and her family at the park in the evening. The whole way there, I pumped him up as though for a spelling bee:
Me: Now Isaac, we don't push Ella. We don't hit Ella.
Isaac: No push Ella! No hit Ella!
Me: You got it!
Isaac: You got it! No push Ella! No hit Ella, you got it!
There were at least two points during this same trip where I saw him reach his hand up to give Ella a smack on the head, or put his hands toward her in an attempt to push her... where suddenly he stopped, obviously putting two and two together, and retracted his hands. It was miraculous. And it didn't last more than twenty minutes.
He is freaking me out. I don't know what to do with him, because suddenly my superiorly delightful, angel child won't do a thing I tell him, and won't sit through even a dinner at Red Robin without pitching a violent, kicking fit. I think the worst part about all this is not just that this is my first time, really, being around a 2-year-old. It's not just that I don't have any clue if what he is doing is normal, if it will pass, or if I am doing the right things regardless of whether or not they are working now. No, the worst thing is looking at my darling mellow angel baby Jacob, knowing that in two years I will be reliving this crap all over again through him. Let's just hope the first one is over himself by then.
posted by Claire at 2:11 PM
6 Comments:
I found your blog by clicking on "random blog" on blogger.com.
You sound like you are describing my little guy who will be two real soon now.
I'm mortified when I drop him off at daycare and the first thing he does is smack little Ava and push little Amelia right on her bottom.
I am finding that he "regresses" when he is tired or stressed. He is much more physical at bedtime for example. In fact I found this to be true with his older sister too. Even now, she is 10 years old, but when she is really tired, she becomes a whiny little 4 year old, it seems. Oh heck, I think even when I'm tired and hungry, I regress into a whiny brat sometimes...
I know that doesn't give you much hope, but it helps to say to yourself, "He's tired, he can't help himself". When you know that, you find a little more patience.
Oh and by the way, those are a couple of cute little boys you got there.
B.
Thanks, Beth, for the advice. I need alllllllllll the mantras I can get right now...
And of course it always helps when somebody reminds me how handsome my boys are.
It is normal, it will pass. We are in a semi period of calm with Beaux, mainly because I think we took back control of the little world that he was in charge of. I fully anticipate this phase to end and the hideousness of twodom to return.
I. Am. Now. Cowering. In. The. Corner. With. A. Martini.
Sounds too much like LB is headin' to. Crap.
You see the payback I got for bragging on beaux on your blog? That was literally my first thought yesterday that "I knew better than to brag about him in a public forum."
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