Frickin' Threes!

Whomever said that three year olds are easier than two year olds obviously never had a three year old! I guess it's no surprise that Grant is stubborn. Mark and I are very stubborn. I am more than he his. My motto is "it's my way". It probably has to do in my case with being the youngest, never having to share & having a huge age gap between me and another sibling. Oh and I am terribly bossy! Mark is an only child so we both went through similar experiences.

I just don't "get" children. Somedays, well most days I feel like I totally suck at this mom thing. I don't have the patience that a lot of mothers seem to have. Do all moms feel this way or am I the only? We both never had much experience with children until we had Grant so it has been a crash course in parenting these past three years. We have read some books on the subject. But have decided to not be "book" parents and go with our instincts. He's still alive, happy & a well adjusted so we must be doing something right.

Somedays this "strong willed child" (as described by Dr. M) gets the best of me and during nap time I am going through the classifieds looking for a job, thinking that going back to work would be easier than dealing with Grant all day. Of course the next day he's a complete angel and the job hunt goes on the back burner.

The few things that I do know about him and his stubbornness is that if he stays away from sugar he is a little better. I have to hold my ground with him and not give in. If I give in just a little he totally takes advantage of the situation. Dr. M also specializes in behavior disorders and sees nothing wrong with Grant (no autism, ADHD or ADD), just a typical pre-schooler.

The situation in the grocery store parking lot prompted me to write about this topic in the blog today. Grant runs ahead of me out the automatic door. With a spine tingling shrill I yelled "Grant stop!". He was almost off the sidewalk and into the busy parking lot. I'm sure the whole store heard me! I grabbed his hand and of course dragged him to the car because he screamed "I won't hold hand". We get into the car I proceed to lecture him about not running off. He responds with "OK, OK" and a "I love you mommy".

So if you see me out in public or in the neighborhood and you think I am a little hard on him, I have to be! My child may not be perfect but he is not the one running around the store and knocking stuff off shelves, slapping others or screaming his head off. Bottom line I am bound and determined to raise a respectful, smart and polite human being and I will not be bossed around by a child!