Baby Boarding School?

I can't begin to describe the copious amounts of stress I am under right now, that I actually feel like I'm going to break. To add the cherry on top, Davis is none other than a awful, very bad, no good, terrible two year old. Is there a cure for this? Can we hypnotize him? Baby Prozac? Something? Anything? Being around a two year old is like living with someone that is bipolar. One minute, he totally loves me, and the next, he's in the midst of the 100th tantrum. By the way, it's only 9am at this point. (Right now, he's kicking the walls. I just want to fill you in on every aspect right now. Found a cure, yet?)

Take this morning for example. I had finally made it to the gym on time for the first day this week, for a class. (It's been one of those weeks with Davis) To help him with the transition of everything that has been going on, he is beyond attached to his Pooh Bear right now. While this is very cute, it makes things difficult when we are out in public. I was letting him bring the bear into the kids area the first few days, to help him get used to being in there. I noticed that when he has the bear, he wasn't wanting to play with anyone or anything else in there, so I cut that off. Today he decided to show me how upset he was about this. I was talking to someone outside of the kids area, and she was saying how cute Davis is. Ha! If only you knew lady. Cute on the outside, flames on the inside. Out of left field, SMACK! Right across my face. I was so in shock that I had no clue what to do. Put him in time out in the middle of the gym? I didn't feel like making an even bigger scene than we already had. I told him no, had a talk with him, and still didn't know what to do. I'm sure some of you are thinking that I should have spanked him. Me wanting to spank Davis is crossing my mind more and more as the minutes go on. But we don't spank. I have my reasons, but that's another discussion. All I wanted to do was go to the sauna and just cry. I feel defeated. Defeated by a tiny two year old. I'm at a loss and am praying that I can figure out something to do with this child before things get worse. Please say they get better!

Seemingly overnight, my son has transformed from a kid we could take anywhere—WOULD take anywhere thanks to his perfect restaurant behavior—into a child that can’t handle sitting in a shopping cart for five minutes while in Target because all he wants to do is squirm and run around and knock things over.


It’s a tough stage. It’s a stage that makes you doubt yourself as a parent. It pushes you far beyond your patience limit and then back again. It’s a stage where one parent is pitted against the other at times, just desperately trying to find a way to make it through our cheeseburgers on a Friday night out in public.

Time-outs work pretty well, but my husband and I are still frazzled and on-edge after a particularly difficult tantrum session. But, thankfully, we’ve found a way to cope—we laugh. We joke that living with our son is like living with a very tiny, very loud, very destructive drunk person–emotionally unstable, extreme mood swings, wobbly gait, copious amounts of drool, liquids spilled on the carpet and a predilection for running around naked. It’s like living with a college student.

So, here’s hoping that this challenging stage passes soon—although it’s sort of the-devil-you-know-versus-the-devil-you-don’t. Because I’ll probably look back at this post later on in life, after he’s totaled our car or something similar, and wish time-outs still worked.

But, I’d love to hear any other suggestions or comments—even if it’s just to express shared misery!

And remember, you may want to share something fast, or googling baby boarding school is in my near future.

Can I Throw In The White Flag?

I know you've been there. You've had those days. Yes, THOSE DAYS! Where it is only about 9 am and you are already praying and wishing for the day to be over. Your perfect little angel has sprouted horns that have fire flaming off the tips. What? Just mine? No, no. I'm not fooled. You're a mom. You've been there. 10am comes and is ever so slowly inching it's way to...10:01. You sit and wonder why? Or, I am never having children again! Can it please be, 'take your screaming baby to work' tomorrow so mama can have a break? Of all jobs in the world, this job should have a hot line! Seriously! Someone (besides your husband, because Lord knows they usually get the short end of the stick, a lot) that you can call and scream at. Just pick up the phone and yell something random like, "Come pick up this screaming child that is flinging himself all over the carpet and making me want to scream in a pillow." Thank you. And then hang up. Okay, that felt a little better now. Now back to wailing child whose face is now fire engine red.

Ahhh...yes. Those days. What would motherhood be without them. A lot less stressful and a whole heck of a lot quieter that's for sure. Something was implanted in these children's brains saying, "Once all is calm and quiet, keep your mom on her toes. She loves to play guessing games. Show her how strong your pipes are and scream away. It's not like she has good hearing or anything!" If only I could invent a screaming translator, I'd be golden!

Motherhood is so like playing a guessing game and will forever keep me on my toes. Just when I get used to one thing, something else new pops up and says, 'HEY THERE!' But don't you worry. I have my shield, armor, my gear on and I'm ready to play this round. Game on!!

No, no. I wasn't really going to throw in the towel on motherhood. Just a figure of speech. The majority of the time, Davis is great. And when Davis is bad, well like I've said before, he can be a demon spawn. Then I go look at that sweet little angelic face (while he's sleeping) and wonder how in the world I ever got mad or upset with him. You know how it is. In the morning, you wake up, ready to battle another day. Laying in bed you wonder if you are going to awake the demon, or the angel. Either way, you have your gear on just in case!

Pour Your Heart Out

I have never participated in this before, but have written the same post in my head over and over. I figured it was about time to just go ahead and do it. If it makes some people upset or a little worried, I'm not worried about it and it's my blog. Hey, pour your heart out, right!?!

If any of you are like me and you love the shows 'Brothers and Sisters' and/or 'Parenthood' then you know that these families are extremely close. Maybe at times a little too close and you're thinking to yourself, shut up! But hey, they are family and at least they talk. Now I don't want my family to be completely all up in my business, but I do like having them around. Most of the time! But they know what is going on with each other, why they are upset, new things happening in their life. They say things with honesty even if it is going to hurt someones feelings. HONESTY.

My family isn't all that close. My immediate family, yes, but extended family, I forget that I have any sometimes. So, this is what kills me. As many of you know, my son Davis is now 9 months old. I think that's a good amount of time to pick up the phone and write an email saying congrats or anything. I have a certain family member that hasn't so much as picked up the phone and called me, written me an email, facebooked me, nothing. What is worse, is they have a house in the same city that I live in and haven't bothered to contact me. Hence the whole, my family is not close, bit. I hate it and it sucks. I don't know what the deal is. Does no one care to remain/stay/try and be close? I always wanted my children to have a large, close knit family and it's not looking that way. I have only one cousin that I am in contact with and that's it. It just makes me sad. It's very disheartening to me. I honestly think now at this point, if I was contacted, it would be because someone told them to and I wouldn't have much to say. I am pretty much at this point over it. I don't mean over it in the sense that it doesn't hurt, I mean over it. Why worry about having a relationship with someone that doesn't want one. I wash my hands of it.

Family issue #2. Be honest. I hate when people try and tip toe around issues in fear of what someone is going to say. A lot of times, family members don't tell me things, or wait until later to tell me something (which I always know anyway) for fear of what I will say. I never say anything to try and hurt someones feelings. I am honest with you and say these things because I care about you. If I didn't care, I would keep my mouth shut and nod my head. What good would that do anybody? I wish more people had this same mentality. Just tell it like it is. If someone doesn't like it, who cares. If they get mad, at least you know how they felt about the situation.

I absolutely love and adore my family and couldn't ask for a better relationship with them. We all have a pretty close knit bond which amazes and I would do anything for any of them. My sisters are my life line, and my parents and both tremendous for support. But what family would be a family without a little drama? :)