We spent some time yesterday visiting some friends. One couple has a two year-old boy and just had twins. The other couple has a three year-old and is pregnant with twins (glad we missed out on the twins train). I'll try, probably in a clumsy fashion, to keep from naming the other family's and their children since I don't know if they would like their children's names out on the intertubes.
James is alternately a delight and a lot of fun to be around and really trying. Most of the time I chalk his not listening and sass up to being three, but there are times that I wonder if we have...
Time out: James is currently crying because Sarah won't let him eat sugar out of the sugar bowl. He seems to really like to eat sugar, and apparently eating sugar is now one of the reasons he wants to make pancakes with Sarah. He's now crying and stirring the pancakes with a whisk. It's a little funny, really. Now he's crying and adding flour and stirring and he is really really trying to keep crying.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
I wonder if there are things that we have done in raising him that have lead to some of his more frustrating behaviors. I'm sure this is probably a common thought among parents, but that doesn't stop those thoughts from floating into my head. The thing that I am struggling with the most lately is his deliberately doing things that we tell him not to do or that he knows he is not supposed to do, and it's even worse when he grins or laughs while doing it. Another behavior that is particularly tough is that he's started running away when we tell him to come to us (or come in, or stop doing something, etc.). This all wears down my patience pretty quickly and can make me kind of grumpy.
One of the things that I struggle with sometimes is staying crabby for an afternoon (especially in the afternoon after nearly a whole day of boys before Sarah gets home). I continue to be crabby about things, but James has since moved on and is happy and laughing. He doesn't hold on to things like that very long, and I wish I had that ability. I feel like I was able to let go more when I was meditating regularly and going to the Dharma center. Maybe one of these years I will make time to do that again.
So it was all a little comforting seeing other families with young children dealing with some of the same behaviors that we've been dealing with. The boy, who has been potty trained about as long as James has been, still has accidents and needs to read books while in the bathroom. The girl is also sassy and has a hard time listening sometimes. I won't go into the details of stories I heard from their parents nor am I passing judgment on them and what they're doing with their kids. It is all just a little reassuring that we are not alone here.
All in all, I really am having a good time as James is growing up. We hare have fun exploring parks, pretending, playing trains, etc. That doesn't make those days where he strings some of his behaviors together any easier or faster, but I suppose with some more mindfulness I can remember that a little kid is a little kid and is learning, testing, growing and even though they may be trying some times that they are also pretty wonderful.
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