The terrible twos are a misnomer. None of my kids were terrible at two. They were go with the flow, they didn't talk back, they were relatively easy-going - as easy-going as a toddler can be. I'm probably remembering this all wrong, I should go back and look at old posts, but that's how it feels. The threes are a totally different story.
The first few months of three were pretty good, but I knew it wasn't going to last and it hasn't. Amanda is in full-on three mode and I do not have the energy for it. Whenever anybody does anything she doesn't like, she yells. Loudly. She cries, she whines and boy is she ever stubborn. I am stubborn and Charlie is stubborn so we make a great mix. Charlie is better at getting her to back off her crazy and do what we need or want her to do, but I am still working on that skill. I will probably never have it.
This morning I woke to the sound of Sarah and Amanda yelling at each other because Sarah wanted the blinds up and Amanda wanted them down. Yelling, yelling, yelling. We used to yell a lot when I was growing up, I don't know how my parents could stand it. It took me awhile but I finally broke the habit of being a loud person and moved more towards the quiet side, but it's really hard to stay quiet in this house.
I remember when Andy was about Sarah's age and Sarah was Amanda's age and he just couldn't understand why she did the things she did and didn't have his level of understanding. It's like deja vu, we're doing it again. I'm constantly telling Sarah the reason that Amanda does things or doesn't do things or doesn't understand is because she's three. No matter how many times I tell her that, she still doesn't get it. These kids do not understand why their younger sibling, who can talk and interact and seem to know how to do everything, doesn't think the same way they do.
So Andy fights with Sarah, Sarah fights with Amanda, Andy fights with Amanda, and the biggest loser of all is me. I spent most of this week with Amanda who has gotten a double whammy butt kicking of daylight saving time change and horrible allergies related to the crazy weather changes we are having here which makes her impossible to deal with. She won't eat breakfast because she doesn't like anything we have to eat, she wants a barrette in her hair but not a brown one (which is the only color I can find in the house or in any store) because she doesn't like brown, she wants to wear clothes that don't match and shoes that are too small and she doesn't want to go to school because she just wants to be with me all day. Presumably so that she can fight with me continually until I break down and shut her up with candy. She really thinks that will work.
On top of that the bulb in our t.v. went out on Tuesday so she can't even rest and veg on the couch in front of the t.v. because it doesn't work. I know, first world problems.
So, I don't know the fancy rhyming term they give to three year olds that turn your household upside down, but I know we're there in full force. I'm hoping four will be better, but if I remember correctly four is just a lot more whining. Like incessant whining to a point that you think they don't know how to talk normally anymore. I can do it, I can make it to that, if I can just get through this week which for no reason whatsoever seemed like the longest week ever.
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