Sunday, February 24, 2008

A Vent

Oh, we have been struggling at our house. Many of you know Elijah to be a sweet, well-mannered, and as my sister points out, compliant little boy, so it may be difficult for you to picture the stubborn, strong willed, yelling side of Elijah. I am happy that he typically shows his great side when others are around but as a woman who struggles with patience I wish he wouldn't always show his stubborn, strong-willed side with me.

Two days this week, on our commute into work/daycare Elijah has spent 20 minutes or more yelling at his mom. One day he was very mad that I had taken his cereal, as he had politely requested I do. Another day he was very mad that I had taken his cereal, as he had politely requested I do. For some reason, in his brain when he says," Here you go mom" that means I should take whatever he is offering and hold it in front of him until he decides if he needs it. I figured that out on the first day so I tried to reason with him by saying, "Mommy is going to put it on the seat and when you need it back you just need to ask with your nice words." He agreed with this but as soon as the bag was out of my hands the screaming began. It is hard to show patience to middle schoolers when your two year old has emptied the bank that morning!!

The commute has not been our only struggle. Bedtime has reverted back to 8 month old Elijah where he cries, hoping someone will come back. The catch here is that he only cries when mommy puts him to bed. That one is easy to solve you may say, just have Chris put him to bed. The problem is Daddy has been gone 3 1/2 weeks out of the last 8 weeks (not all in a row).

Why is my two year old unable to see my logic? It is the best logic after all. Of course he redeems himself every time he says, "Love you too" or "How you day, Mommy?" or when he sings Jesus Love Me (he actually knows most of the song now) or when he rubs my arm or when he asks, "Are you okay?" when I cough, or when he snuggles close when we read Little Quack or when he tells me about how David fought the big mean giant, "Liath".

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There is a reason this age is nicknamed the "terrible twos". This too shall pass.
Remember, the days are long but the years are short.
Love, Grandma Barb