You say yes, I say no.
You say stop and I say go go go
oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Every time I find myself annoyed lately, it is because I wanted to do something but am thwarted by Ada's contrary but persistent will. Every little thing is a battle, from whether I am going to walk with her to the park (no, she wants the stroller) to whether Chris will change her diapers (today she yelled for me the whole time). And just forget about potty training. As previously mentioned in this space, the very fact that I am done with diapers makes her love them all the more.
Why don't I remember people saying how hard 3 can be? I am sure they must have been telling me this all along, since now that I'm asking I am hearing about the trials of three from all kinds of people.
And those trials, oy. Whatever I want, she doesn't. One day last week, all I wanted for the afternoon was to deliver Ada's birthday thank you notes to our neighbors, and maybe take some pictures of a local oddity. She thought this was a crap idea, and whined for snack and books. Post-snack, she whined for more books. She whines about other stuff as well, all too boring to bother recounting. I find myself singing the Beatles to her in a vain attempt not to scream.
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Yeah they really get the birthday thing at 3. Harsh.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly a big girl. Big. Opinionated. Controlling. Emulating. Big. Girl.
ps. I did discover at nearly 3 and a half... The book Love and Logic.. Chapter 4 "share the control" which in my case became give over the control and manipulate everything to get to my own ends.
Since then she dresses herself. Goes where she wants. Tries on new, shitty, behaviours. And, lives with those choices when they are bad, I suppose.
Paul McCartney makes me act like a three year old girl. The opinionated and negative part, not the cracker eating part. Robert Palmer makes me want to eat crackers. Cheese flavoured crackers. Simply irresistible.
ReplyDeleteThree has been SO hard on us. The whining, the strong will, the insisting I refer to her as a boy, and that her name is Boy :)
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, there are so many wonderful parts but the new behaviors that have came along with three are really trying.
I have to remember to celebrate all those things that come along with three - the dressing herself, being able to tell me what she wants/needs, being able to really explain things and the yearning to learn more...it's all great but that other stuff I can do without.
You know, people always told me 3 was harder than 2 and I just flat out didn't believe that was possible. Jokes on me! I like your idea of singing - will have to try that!
ReplyDeleteI know I'd be a grumpy patience-less parent who would use the TV as a babysitter to avoid having to deal, but from a safe distance, I'll just say this is temporary, and you'll look back pretty soon and wonder how the time flew by so quickly. It just doesn't feel like it.
ReplyDeleteAt four and a half, dudelet is starting to to show signs of growing out of it. And sticker charts are starting to work. Just grit your teeth and hang on in there! How does the Laurie Anderson song go?
ReplyDelete"And when force is gone/There's always gin..."
Or something.
Oh we really need to talk. B is so there, he hit it huge while we were in Sunriver. Ack! I am going a bit crazy!
ReplyDeleteOh and please don't feel bad about not commenting on my little old blog...really, it's fine, no problem at all.