Attitudy Rudy

So we have always heard about the “Terrible Twos.”  But I have a feeling it was only said because it rhymes.  Because my house is full of the “Terrible One and a Half’s.”  I am looking for strength each and every day to deal with my not-always-so-sweet little boy Jared.  Throwing himself on the floor, kicking and screaming, crouching over to be like dead weight so we can’t pick him up, throwing anything and everything he can, slapping me on the leg when he gets mad, kicking when he gets his diaper changed, oh, and the constant state of whine that he is in…I don’t get it.  He is loved on by so many people on a daily basis.  He’s got so many toys to play with and we have also given him more room in the house to run around in.  Any chance we get, he gets to go outside on an errand with Mommy or Daddy.  He goes to Grama and Papa’s all the time.  He goes to his swimming lessons three days a week, and twice a week he goes to the babysitter which he absolutely LOVES and plays with the other kids. We sit on the floor and read books and snuggle.  We play outside all the time.  He is always well rested, fed, clothed (very cutely I might add), bathed and changed.  What more can we do?  He struggles with boundaries.  He struggles when we tell him NO.  But we will not take away boundaries just to make him a happier kid.  Boundaries and NO are a part of life.  Maybe it’s the addition of his little brother.  Maybe he secretly doesn’t like him, but you would never know.  He is always saying “Hi Jakey” and laying down next to him to give kisses.  He so desperately wants to play with him (by throwing blocks and books at him in an effort to play.) He’s a smart kid.  He is fantastic anywhere else we are.  Even if he is exhausted and we are out at a friends, he is fantastic.  But he knows that at home, he can push Mommy and Daddy’s buttons so hard. Don’t get me wrong.  He can be such a wonderful little boy – at times.  He is learning so much right now.  New words every day.  He loves to laugh, and if chasing him around the house gives him those giggles, I would gladly do it all day long.  He loves to climb on us.  He loves to look at books.  He loves to lay on our laps to drink his milk.  I just don’t know what we are doing wrong that puts him in these horrible moments where all I  have to do is look at him wrong and he throws himself on the ground crying.  Time out’s have started today.  5 minutes in his crib when he gets too unruly.   I guess, we don’t want to do it all wrong.  We want to raise a good child.  I constantly think, “What would SuperNanny do or say to us?”  Is it just a phase?   Is he just at an age now that he is learning so much that it gets hard to process it all?  I don’t know.  All I know is that I love this kid so much, and worry that I may be scarring him for life when I make him cry.  To not console him when he is sad because we said no, is heartbreaking to me.  I know that I can’t because it sends him the wrong message.   Like I tell Scotty, “It hurts my heart when he cries.”  Those “real” tears Jared sheds, are the killer.  Phew.  Okay that’s it…I’m done venting.  Here’s to a good Saturday with my boys.