June 29, 2006
The Terrible Toddler
It’s starting. The terrible two’s. And frankly, I don’t think I’m well-prepared to handle this yet. He’s not quite 22 months old, but Dawson is acting like those kids I see in the grocery store who whine, cry, kick, scream, swear and pretty much put their parents through absolute misery.
Every morning at 6:15 on the dot, Dawson wakes up with this horrible, demanding cry as if to say, “Mumma! Dada! I’m awake! You both better be awake! ONE OF YOU MUST COME IN HERE AND GET ME RIIIIIIGHT NOOOOOOWWWW!!!” I cringe everytime I hear this sound emanating from his tiny little vocal chords.
I try so hard to play dead in hopes that my husband will get up and deal with the usual duties of diaper changes and the doling out of Berry Burst Cheerios, but I think Doug is on to me.
I used the “I-got-up-with-him-to-nurse-for-7-months-now-it’s-your-turn!” excuse long enough. Doug needs his sleep, too. Except, wait! I’m the one who has to get him ready at 6:45. I give him a bath, dress him, fight to get his socks and shoes on and haul him, crying (me, not him!) to the car on the way to daycare. I complete this routine 4 days a week! Doug stays home with him every Wednesday and let’s just say he’s got it pretty easy compared to me.
I’d like to pretend that I’m super mom and I can multi-task on a super level, but I’d be fibbing. This motherhood stuff takes a lot out of me. Don’t get me wrong, the cuddles, smiles, kisses and cute things Dawson does are worth every minute of every day, but why do I feel guilty for not being able to “do it all?”
It’s like there’s this precendet laid out before me stating that I must be in 100 different places at once. I must be able to entertain my child without getting bored of playing with matchbox cars after 3.6 minutes. I must feel guilty for not wanting to deal with the temper tantrum because my child wants another flipping cookie. Why do our short comings make us feel like bad mothers? Did my mother feel this way? And now that the terrible two’s are just beginning, will I feel guilty every day for not knowing the Dr. Spock approach to “toddlerism”?
Dawson has this annoying (but still cute) way of throwing a temper tantrum, full throttle crying and kicking, laying on the floor. He’ll do it for what feels like an hour and it’s really only 9 minutes. And then when he’s finished, he looks over at me and says, “Hi!” in the most chipper voice with this big shit-eating grin on his face. As if he’s saying, “Haha, I drove Mumma crazy and now I’m going to pretend nothing ever happened! That’ll push her over the edge!”
-sigh- Please tell me I’m not the only mother who goes through this!
Posted by Dana @ 9:07 am • Uncategorized
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June 29th, 2006 at 2:50 pm, jennster Says:
blake wasn’t really terrible at 2.. but his 3’s were worse. good luck!
June 29th, 2006 at 3:03 pm, Dana Says:
oh golly…I’m in trouble, aren’t I??
June 29th, 2006 at 3:49 pm, Anonymous Purple Car Says:
It only gets worse Dana! It takes my daughter longer to get ready to go anywhere than it takes me and she is 5 and a half. And taking her to town to run errands drives me crazy. Asking for this or that or her just plain being a “brat” and whining to completely throw my mood is usually what happens.
July 6th, 2006 at 11:23 pm, Ms. Mamma Says:
I heard about what Jennster said. Don’t feel too bad, I’m a single mama, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Except maybe my own BED(yeah, we co-sleep).
July 7th, 2006 at 5:40 am, kate5kiwis Says:
dahlin’
i am beginning to wonder if the toddler tantrums are just to warm up da mommas for the teen-tantrums??
lol
life is sure exciting, and on a serious note, parenting sure *grows us* as people, don’t ya think??
lots of love to you, i have been a whole week without seeing my darlings, and am kinda missing the whole tanty thing xx