He Calls Me Moo

I have to admit something.

I need/want a break from my children.

Things have been a bit rough in the toddler department these days. I hate to say it, but so far the 'terrible twos' have kind of been terrible. I was really hoping that it wouldn't be that way. But for the last few months much of our days are filled with screaming children.

At first we understood the screaming. At first it was mostly due to misunderstanding her. Now however, screaming is just part of her language. Add crying and whining and repeating to that list. It is enough to drive anyone batty.

We have temper tantrums because we do not allow our children to jump off the back of the couch (or climb up the back of it in general). We have tantrums because we are not allowed in the knife drawer. We have a tantrum because she doesn't want to wear a diaper and use the potty instead. 10 minutes later is is because she wants a diaper. She has a tantrum over everything and believes that she should be ruler of the house.

The tantrums are not because she can not communicate with us anymore. We tell her that we don't kick cups around, or bang glasses on the table. She tells us to wait until she is done... I could not wait for her to start talking with us... now she is talking back to us... sigh....

We have tried to keep our cool, we have lost our cool with her, we have tired time outs, we have tired calming trying to talk to her about it, we have tried ignoring it, we have tried standing her in the corner. Nothing works. She just doesn't listen to us.

Before she started talking, our daycare actually asked us to have her hearing checked, because she couldn't figure out if E could not or would not listen. We were also refereed to a speech therapist. Then suddenly E started talking, we it was just she wouldn't listen.

We have even though that perhaps she was just not getting the attention she needed. Last week, she had to stay home for the week. We spent each day with her, doing things that she liked. Other than the 24 hours were she was throwing up, tantrums continued. We try and do one on one time with each kid every day. She is just a hard headed, stubborn little girl. In some ways, this is a good thing, but it sure doesn't make parenting any easier.

Add this to a new born and a one and half year old who cries and has tantrums because he can not complete communicated his needs yet, our house hold is a bit stressful at the moment. It is, for the most part, just me and my husband. We have no close family or friends that live in our city, which means no breaks for us. We are tired. We are frustrated. We are so very ready to be past this stage in our daughters life.

Some days I wonder why on earth did we decide to have 3 under 3. It feels like insanity. But then we have moments like these:

1. My children use the danish word for mother for me. It sounds like the word more. My son can't really say it. He calls me moo, which is both very cute and a tiny bit insulting.

2. Most nights the oldest two, just before bed time run around the apartment laughing and playing together. It is beautiful when the get along and like each others company.

3. Having E tell me she loves me melts my heart every time.

4. Olivia really saves the day lately, she is one smiley baby.

5. Toddler dancing. It's adorable.

It is those moments that make all the tantrums, screaming and tears so very worth every moment.