Max had one on the worst days of his life today. It started out okay but that is where it ended. Presently Tony is questioning his ability to be a parent.
It all started when we went to church. We normally go to the 8am service, however because of the holiday I was unsure if services would change. I went online and didn’t see anything so we went. Well there was only on service today and it was at 10:30.
So we went home had breakfast and then came back to services. Well 10:30 isn’t a great time for Max in general. He is starting to get tired and hungry about then. Today he decided to see how far he could push us before he got kicked out of church. So after he slapped me twice and hit and kicked both Tony and I countless times, Tony went out with him. He wasn’t loud, he was just disruptive. Tony came back for communion and Max continued just the same. Finally as services were about over, I took him out where he proceeded to laugh at me when I told him he was getting all of his cars and trucks taken away. I was told later that Tony had this same experiance earlier.
We left church promptly after services praying that other people have had a 3 year old that had a day like Max’s at one point or another.
When we got back home, I had Max watch as we took all of his cars, and all of his trucks and put them in boxes for the basement. Tony really wanted to spank him but I insisted that taking away all of this would be a far worse punishment. We agreed that after a few hours, if he did helpful things around the house or was good, he could SLOWLY get his cars back one at a time, with none of his “big trucks” coming until tomorrow at the earliest.
Max was beside himself with this punishment.
We asked Max repeatedly why he was loosing his cars and trucks and after several reminders he was able to tell us why.
He played in the basement (where there are a few toys that are not cars or trucks) for a while then we had lunch. After lunch we decided to go grocery shopping.
Max did very well in the grocery store and was patient with waiting for the few things we had to wait for. Afterwords I thought we should go to K-Mart as there were a couple of items that we couldn’t get at the grocery store that we could get there. Max did well till I wanted to look at the exercise equipment and he saw a car that he MUST have. Then it was melt down all over again!! He was not good for the rest of the time in the store.
Tony felt that we had set him up for failure but I didn’t see it that way. He needs to know that he can’t have everything that he sees and wants.
So while we wanted to give him a car when we got home, he got none.
Then we were down in the basement again and I told Tony we should pack away the baby toys. Max didn’t seem happy with this idea until I told him that if he didn’t cry he could get a car, and if he helped and didn’t cry he could get 2 cars. It was then that he assumed that ALL of the toys were baby toys and tried to take them all away. When we told him no, he lost it again and again, he couldn’t get any cars.
However Max had some good left in him. He LOVES to help with laundry and in fact will not even let me take out any clothes from the washer or dryer. So I let him move laundry. He did GREAT and earned a car. However later at dinner he hit Tony and he lost it again.
Since then it has been down hill. I am somewhat convinced that he is coming down with something even though he appears to be normal. He will be going to bed early tonight.
We did do a bit of dancing tonight but even then he started bouncing off the tree and ruined what would have been nice and fun family time.
Through this process today, I have tried to counteract Max’s wildness with calmness. It hasn’t been easy but I have tried. With any luck tomorrow will be a better day.
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Oh my! Don’t give up on your parenting skills just yet 😉 I have always said it should be the terrible 3’s instead of the terrible 2’s. My 3 girls were much more trying at 3 than at 2. This too shall pass, however it will likely get worse before it gets better. Not what you wanted to hear I am sure, but just remember he is realizing he is his own person and trying to assert his independance in as many annoying (HA!) ways as possible. Hugs from Tennessee.
~Kristy~
Mama to :
Lorryn 12, Aleysah 10, Nora 5
Ohhh, I would say that he might be growing. Especially if its an “all of a sudden” kind of tantrum day. He could be needing the extra sleep and calories.
We just went through this with our 4 year old. Major major growth spurt (7 lbs and 3 inches in 4 months) He was beyond cranky, miserable, mean, hitting and punching all the time. Just not like my little guy AT ALL. After a trip to the doctors for his yearly visit, we finally figured out that his bad attitude and cranky ways was because he just went through a major growth spurt. I would say that it might be what is going on with your little guy.
We found that putting him to bed an hour earlier and giving him a few more choices when it comes to snacks during the day really helped.
Good luck.