Tough Times

TGIF!! Wow, it has been a tough week and I am glad it is over. Did yours drag too or did it fly by? I had a conversation this week with a dear friend that made me think about some of the really tough times we've had with our kids. I'm sure I'll blog every-so-often on this topic, but today I'll reminisce about DD2.

When she was about 1-4 years old, she was a TOUGH one. At 18 months old, she started saying things like, "You no talk to me like that mommy!" At 2 y.o. she would intentionally do things to make DD1 mad in the hopes that she would get chased. She LOVED the feeling of getting chased and didn't mind getting in trouble. One time she climbed up on the table and poured out a full pitcher of orange juice all over the floor. And then, as you can see from the pic above, she would find markers in their bedroom at night and color ALL over herself. Time outs were no big deal to her, so I started putting myself in time out so I wouldn't hurt her. :)

I would cry and cry, in frustration. All of my parenting, childhood development, and education classes did not prepare me for this and I just knew that someday, DD2 would end up in prison.

So what did we do? We were CONSISTENT with our consequences and praises. We asked other parents for advice. We prayed A LOT. We found her Achilles heel - she can't lie. And that helped us be consistent because she would fess up when she did something bad. Then we just hung on.

Finally, she grew up and out of that phase and is now so enjoyable. So if you have a kiddo like that, hang in there. It is HARD. But with God's help, a lot of work, and patience, you will get through. Have a great weekend!