Leo is celebrating being three by moving into a whole new realm of tantrums. Up until now they have been limited to crying and maybe saying "no I don't want to (do whatever it is you're trying to get me to do)." But recently they have evolved. Sometimes they involve crying, often they involve a calm sense of defiance (saying no, saying "you can't talk to me"), and frequently involve throwing or shoving away whatever objects are closest to hand (toys usually), and occasionally a foot gets stomped.
In some ways it's cute to see him so determinedly obstinate, but in more ways it's scary--because there is no reasoning with him. If I put him in his room to calm down and leave the door open, he comes out again. If I close the door, he bangs on it. Hard. Explaining why he can't have or do what he wants has little effect--he's too young to truly grasp the logic. I try to ignore him, so as not to provoke more reaction, but at the same time, I feel he has to be told that his behavior is inappropriate and that there will be consequences (which seem to produce a bigger fit).
This morning it took Jeff and I over 20 minutes to get Leo dressed for school. He did not want to get dressed and he did not want to go to school. I don't know how to determine if this is just a normal stage (which I know it is) and/or whether there is truly something going on at school. He seems to have a good time and is happy when we pick him up. We talk to his teachers every day and they give us a pretty good description of how he is doing. We wonder if he'd be happier at another school, but even so, the transition would be very disruptive too. He's doing really well on the potty training, and I know that that transition may be causing some anxiety too. We tried to "lose" the pacifier over Thanksgiving, by claiming we forgot it at Grandma's, but after over an hour of crying, we "found" it (call us suckers if you want, but you try getting any sleep with a wailing three year old in the background).
So, any parents of three-year-olds have suggestions for how to work through this phase (without going deaf or crazy)?
2 comments:
Kirstin - I looked it up on the Super Nanny site, here's the paci-fairy tip.
http://www.supernanny.com/Advice/-/Supernanny-techniques/-/Discipline-and-reward/The-paci~fairy-technique.aspx
It was cute on the actual show - the little girl got to hang her box of pacifiers on a tree outside. Then she got a present the next morning, again hanging on the tree.
It might work with Leo. --heidi--
Or, just tell him the stores don't carry pacis in big-boy sizes... Just kidding. Grandma Marge
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