Handling the crazy

Boden will be two in just a few short months and the taste of the "terrible twos" that I've had so far has been bittersweet. On one hand, it's so fun to see him grow and have this little person to hang out with everyday. On the other hand...it's hell. He is like a moody teenager, or a woman with raging hormones. He's happy one second, and the next moment he's flailing on the ground screaming. Or he will be crying with tears streaming down his face and mid-cry he will start laughing hysterically. He is on a rollercoaster of emotions and it just figures that it starts now, when my hormones are finally starting to balance out. I guess that's how nature intended it to work, and I'm thankful for that. I'm afraid that someone would have jumped ship if there was more than one of us in the house flying from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other. We can only handle so much crazy.

The hardest thing about this phase is the hitting and pushing that B is experimenting with. We are out at playdates and activities a lot with other kids and I've started to have to hover over him all the time to prevent him knocking someone over! 99% of the other kids that we play with are girls, and they are all so lovely. None of them hit, they all share nicely, and they sit on their mom's laps like sweet little cherubs. My messy, wild, little boy does none of those things and runs around like a banshee smacking these little, sweet girls on the head. It's heartbreaking and has brought me to tears many nights after putting him to sleep. I know it's a normal phase for kids to go through but that doesn't make it any easier when he's just pushed a little girl, half his size, down on the ground and she's screaming and crying in front of ten other mothers. For one, it's embarassing. Two, it's hard on the kids getting pushed and it's hard on Bodie. It just sucks all around. Sometimes I think that we are out too much and he gets overwhelmed with all the activity. This week, we've skipped all the activities and instead have had some quiet time and smaller outings together, hoping this will ease him into the social scene a little easier. It's a learning process for us all, but boy there have been some tears shed at the Leopin house lately, and not just Boden! I'm thankful though, that during this cold January weather, we have a safe, warm home where we can spend our days snuggling and reading books. And, we are spending a lot of time with our teddy bears and dolls, practicing sharing and playing gentle. Stay tuned.