the battle of wills has begun
I've heard of terrible twos, but how come nobody mentioned all the other terribles. in particular terrible 14 months.
posted by Melissa @ 10:30 PM
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5 Comments:
At 10:02 AM,
Anne-Marie said…
Ack! I feel for you Melissa and oh my, when do we get to catch up on the sleep???
Though Sam's always been an easy kid, lately there are moments where I catch glimpses of the future - the tantrums, the back arches, the biting, the smacking his head against the high chair when we won't give him a steak knife of his very own. And you know, it doesn't take much to get me riled up and angry. I wish I was more patient, able to use my 'quiet voice', get down to his level and explain calmly why walking around with a pen in your mouth is a bad idea but most days, I am a far cry from this. I'm tired and I too am cranky some days. I have a sneaky feeling the next year is going to be a tad tougher on the old nerves...
At 12:51 PM,
... said…
Poor you. It does pass you know and the good news is that you will probably survive it! I remember when Finn threw a spectacular fit in Safeway when she was just over a year old. I tried to escape the store and the accusing glares of the other shoppers only to be stopped by some lady accusing me of kidnapping my daughter. She grabbed my arm and told me to hold on while looking around for security. I snapped at her, "Do you really think I would kidnap THIS kid???" Finn was purple with rage and pulling my hair.
Her independent streak was only just surfacing. It seemed to me like she was out to get me and I struggled with agonizing feelings of guilt because some days I just didn't like her. I loved her, I knew that, otherwise I would have left her on a church doorstep - but some days...hoo boy.
The good news is that as she got a bit older and learned to express herself better she became just the coolest little kid. Still willful and sure, we still had our little rage-outs but it got better.
In the meantime do what you can to get sleep (because dealing with a toddler while sleep deprived is seriously punishing) and you know, maybe take up an afternoon tippling habit. I kid...kind of.
At 4:45 PM,
landismom said…
Sending you a big shot of calming breaths over the internet. It will pass eventually (or at least morph into something different).
At 10:30 PM,
Tammy said…
Oh, wow. That sucks, Melissa. And you're right: looking at other people's lives through the keyhole of the internet is deceptive. I thought you guys were all living the classic idyllic BC lifestyle.
I wish I had some words of advice. All I can offer you is 100 percent commiseration on the sleep deprivation. I didn't know it was possible to be so tired for so long and still (kind of) function.
Slushgrrl, someone thought you were kidnapping your own child?!?! That is rich. I'd almost laugh except that I can only imagine how stressful and goddamned infuriating that must have been.
At 7:55 PM,
Melissa said…
I can sympathize, having a very strong-willed baby myself. She hasn't thrown any full-fledged tantrums yet but I know it's just around the corner. It's such a hard age because I know she can understand a lot more than she can tell me (well, all she can tell me is "EH!") and I'm sure it must be frustrating for her. I've tried to start explaining things to her and letting her know what we're going to do next so that she doesn't get so mad, but like Anne-Marie, I often have a hard time being patient.
We will all get through this. And then I guess if we're nutty enough, we'll have another one and go through this stage again. Heh.
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