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Austin Babies
MrsAJL
member
The Terrible 3s are going to be the death of me!
MrsAJL
member
ArrggghhH!
Ben is really trying my patience lately. Anytime he doesn't get what he wants, he first whines terribly and then when I continue to not cave in to his wishes, he bursts into tears.
I know I've encouraged his behavior because I don't like hearing his tantrums and will end up caving in just to get him to be quiet. Well, now I have to undo what I've done and uncondition him? I don't know.
I need help. Anyone else have any whiny/teary/tantruming 3.5 year olds that you're ready to send to boarding school?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: The Terrible 3s are going to be the death of me!
Yup. I keep warning everyone that 2's are just to prepare you for 3. Add an 8 year that likes to pick on her little brother because he is "soooo annoying" and it makes need that glass(or two) of wine almost every night.
It's hard age too because he wants to be independent sooo bad and if I help him poor the juice or I don't let him pick his cup out the fit begins. He's stubborn too so if I ask him to throw away a napkin and he refuses he ends up in a fit. If trying to reason with him doesn't work (yeah right) and he's throwing a fit I pick him up and sit him in his room. I let him know that when he is finished crying and ready to behave the way he should he can come out. He will sit in there a few seconds are even a minute and comes out composed and does what I asked. It even works when her refuses to apologize to his sister.
Now if you find a solution to the "mooooooom, he's looking at me" or "moooooom he's copying everything I say" issues let me know.
Nope. Nope. Nope. It doesn't get worse. If I keep saying that, that means it's true.
LALALALALA I can't hear youuuuuuuuu
**runs screaming of the thread**
I just thought to myself this very morning that whoever said it was the Terrible Twos should be punched in the throat. No way was 2 bad! I want to go back!
I'm trying to take some deep breaths when I see one of the episodes coming so that I'm prepared for it. I've warned her that things aren't up for discussion, so she should stop before she gets started (sometimes that works, sometimes not). I've started a box that I put things into when she isn't following directions and when she does, she gets one back of her choosing. I try to distract her.
The reality is, not only is she 3, she's my child, and when she throws her hissy fits, it's like looking into a mirror. Ugh. My poor husband. The whining makes my ears bleed some days and other days she's the sweetest child on the planet. I'm determined to stand my ground and just wait for the sweet little girl I knew to come back!
Hang in there!
If it makes you feel any better, anything you would have /could have done differently wouldn't have changed this. 3 is hard.
I think Jack was the easiest 2 year old in existence. Three sucked and, being a couple months into four is no picnic either.
Why does everyone lie and say 2 is the bad age? Because I can already tell that's a big stupid lie. Every day we get closer to 3, and every day DS is a bit more challenging.
I don't even know what to tell you. Except that my mommy friends with 4+ year olds swear 4 is better. So, um, good luck!
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
Thanks y'all! I think just knowing that a) my kid is a normal 3.5 year old and b) that I'm a normal, frustrated mom of said kid is helping a lot. I just feel like I'm the mean Mommy sometimes. I've generally very patient with him, but man, there are some days where I think we're going head to head in a battle royale.
A big challenge for us is getting him to listen to me (ha!) I swear, if that kid was a cat, his ears would turn to hear me but he would just keep on getting into whatever mischief I want him out of. lol!
Maybe we're not deep enough into 4, but no. It could also be that he looooooooves to torture his (now 2 year old) brother. No. Nuh uh.
I know what you mean.
95% of H's toys are still in the top of my closet- she helped put them up there, which shows how effective I was at dealing with the situation....
One thing that helped us was trying to give her tools do deal with how she was feeling- when you're feeling frustrated you can do A, B, or C. When you need help you ask mommy/daddy/teacher/a friend. When I got frustrated I would talk to her about it- "Mommy is getting very frustrated and angry right now because I need you to do something and you are not cooperating. Mommy needs to step away and have time by herself to calm down or else she may yell at you." For some reason talking in the third person got the message across better, not sure why. As she got to understand that I started putting some of the responsibility on her by asking her to help keep us from getting snappy or frustrated. When I remind her, she's more likely to stop her difficult behavior and ask "Mommy, do you need my help? I can help you stay calm!" and it also makes her more receptive to letting us help her calm down when she's upset.
GL, it's crappy.
::hysterical manic laughter::
Jakob didn't get better till he turned 9. Hang in there!
Layna will be 3 next month and its already starting. She was such an easy 1 and 2 year old, I never really had to implement timeouts or any sort of discipline. But now she's getting a bit snotty and I feel I'm so far behind everyone who's already got their kids trained. Crap!
One of my circles calls it the f'in fours. We're almost out of the fours for now and after my experience I'd respectfully say your friends are full of it.
For us 3, especially from 3.5-4 was definitely the worst by far! This is when we started a behavior sticker chart. And ditto to MC, we never gave into Abby much but it did not stop the terrible 3s she still whined, etc. Four was different, not necessarily better. But I think our troubles in the 4s (and still 5s) was partly a girl thing (a whole lot of drama and attitude!). This is what I keep telling myself anyway! :P
We are getting there. 3.5 - fun times. A friend of mine with older kids highly recommended this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Three-Year-Old-Louise-Bates-Ames/dp/0440506492
I've just started it, but I trust her book recommendations. She said it's great for explaining behavior and why they do what they do, but take the solutions with a grain of salt (the book was written 30 years ago).
Ditto this completely. Four has been fun but a challenge as well. We're going through this right now and I found the cartoon frustrating, hilarious, and comforting all at the same time:
https://crappypictures.typepad.com/crappy-pictures/2011/07/feeding-the-.html
Hang in there.
This may be my new favorite blog - that is hysterical! Thank you.
This exactly! (as I take a huge gulp of my wine ;-)