Whose woods these are I think I know;
I will not ‘fess up right now, though.*
Hi. You guys know how much I love this little punk, right? I want you to keep that in mind as you read the rest of this post. Because I cannot stand him right now. For real. He is being SUCH A JERK.
If he is not actively having a fight with his brother, he is trying to start one. He repeats everything Levi says until Levi hits him (in fairness to Levi, this particular behavior makes me want to hit something, too) and then he sobs pitifully as though he is the blameless injured party. He will not cooperate with anyone on anything, as far as I can tell. If I tell him to sit down for lunch please, we are having his six favorite foods accompanied by all the pop he can drink, he shouts, “NO!! NEVER!!!!!” and stomps his feet.
He does not love me. I am not his friend anymore. He only loves Daddy (particularly hilarious, since that’s not the story Daddy hears). He is never loving me again. NO NEVER!!!
I know he looks like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, but I’m telling you, this kid is a pip.
i cannot wait for him to get on the bus in the morning. (Dear Preschool Staff: Thank you. I’m sorry. May God be with you.) I do not want to pick him up at noon. Actually, that’s not true. I’m always happy to see him when he comes out of the building. Two minutes later, when he is refusing to get into the car and lying on the sidewalk, I’ve changed my mind.
Part of me believes that this will pass. He just turned four. He just started preschool (and we are finally having a “normal” week with no missed days, so the routine has been weird). He has lost two much-loved grandparents in the last three months. I know all the reasons, and I can talk the talk.
The other part of me believes that I am raising a sociopathic monster. One that sits around and plots ways to make his mother cry in frustration.
I know I’m not exactly at my best right now, either. I am so worn out, and the (limited) patience I usually have for shenanigans is vaporizing before my very eyes.
If you have any suggestions for me that will not get me arrested, please share. If you don’t have any suggestions, I will accept commiseration. Beggars can’t be choosers.
* This picture has nothing to do with the text of the post, really. I just think it’s funny.
Kids are so smart! Didn’t take him long to figure out that if you love someone, it hurts too much when they”go away”! Unfortunately, he is too young to know it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.
Totally understand what you are going through! There are days we want to set a child out by the road with a sign saying ‘Take Me!’ There are lots of days that I can understand why (physical) child abuse happens…”and there but for the grace of God go I!”
What’s been the absolute best remedy in our family has been
Oops..didn’t finish my comment…
…time away from the kids! An evening, a couple of days, even just getting groceries without the ‘help’ of little people can really improve this mommy’s move! Biggest challenge is finding babysitters….!
Another tip: Snuggle with or just gaze at their little sleeping forms at night. Somehow, seeing their ‘angelic’ countenance helps melt some pent up stress and anger!
Best bit of advice I’ve been given? Many years ago when our son began exhibiting some challenging behaviors, my uncle Jim Rufener told me, “You just have to roll with the punches.” I think of that often…because it’s so true!