Sometime while I slept last night, by beloved son was replaced by a rabid fuss monkey, which came as somewhat of a surprise, as I do not believe that fuss monkeys are indigenous to this area. Nonetheless, when pulled from his crib and presented with the plan of his sitting down to eat breakfast, a great tantrum ensued. The net result was that he skipped breakfast (which just means I pack it so he can eat at school) and I got to do all of our morning activities (getting dressed, brushing teeth, etc.) while he howled and cried and kicked, occasionally pausing to make sure I was still aware of the tantrum going on.
Tantrums are not my strong suit. I know how to handle them and all, essentially ignoring the Moose until he feels like being more reasonable, but I'm a big softy when it comes to my kids. So while I'm doing the right thing, the whole time I feel like a heel for letting him lay on the floor crying while I iron my shirt and drink coffee. When I finally got him out of his car seat to drop him off at school, a trip he continued fussing through, he gave me a big hug, and I felt even worse.
I don't know if it's accurate or not, but the Moose feels a lot more prone to tantrums than his big sister was. I think it's more likely that I am simply more aware of it in him. With the Princess, my lovely wife did a lot more of getting her ready for school and whatnot, as she was working on her Master's degree at the time and thus didn't have as rigid a schedule as I did. Now that I have assumed the responsibility of prepping the two for their day (which frankly makes more sense, as I'm traditionally more of a morning person than my lovely wife), I'm seeing more of him than I think I did of the Princess at this age.
It's especially striking with the Moose because he's been such a mellow, happy kid thus far. For the most part he still is. He's just developing these weird battles, like not wanting to sit in his high chair to eat or fussing for extended periods at bedtime, although the latter is undoubtedly related to the removal of pacifiers from the situation a few weeks ago. I guess I just have to get used to holding my ground. It's just hard when it's my babies. I feel like I'm being mean to let him cry like that, even though I know that it's best in the long run.
Tantrums are not my strong suit. I know how to handle them and all, essentially ignoring the Moose until he feels like being more reasonable, but I'm a big softy when it comes to my kids. So while I'm doing the right thing, the whole time I feel like a heel for letting him lay on the floor crying while I iron my shirt and drink coffee. When I finally got him out of his car seat to drop him off at school, a trip he continued fussing through, he gave me a big hug, and I felt even worse.
I don't know if it's accurate or not, but the Moose feels a lot more prone to tantrums than his big sister was. I think it's more likely that I am simply more aware of it in him. With the Princess, my lovely wife did a lot more of getting her ready for school and whatnot, as she was working on her Master's degree at the time and thus didn't have as rigid a schedule as I did. Now that I have assumed the responsibility of prepping the two for their day (which frankly makes more sense, as I'm traditionally more of a morning person than my lovely wife), I'm seeing more of him than I think I did of the Princess at this age.
It's especially striking with the Moose because he's been such a mellow, happy kid thus far. For the most part he still is. He's just developing these weird battles, like not wanting to sit in his high chair to eat or fussing for extended periods at bedtime, although the latter is undoubtedly related to the removal of pacifiers from the situation a few weeks ago. I guess I just have to get used to holding my ground. It's just hard when it's my babies. I feel like I'm being mean to let him cry like that, even though I know that it's best in the long run.
No comments:
Post a Comment