G is for Grumpy and S is for screaming

Just in case you thought everything was all sweetness around here ('cause blogs do tend to focus on the positive), let me assure you, sometimes it is not.

Charlotte is most definitely 2. The plus side is her growing independence: she can pretty much dress herself (pants, underwear, socks, shirt, outside coat – the whole thing), she can finally do up the buckles on her (GD) car seat (she has been trying to do this for MONTHS and driving us crazy), and she can climb, slide and somersault with the best of them.

The downside is that on the occasions when she is not able to do any of these things, she gets really pissed. Not just a little put off, but screaming-crying-ear-spitting-yelling pissed.
Things don’t work out for her for a variety of reasons. With dressing, the most common problem is that she gets first arm in, then her elbow gets caught in the sleeve as she’s trying to put the other one in. Once this has happened, she is trapped.
With the car seat, sometimes the belt is twisted and the buckle won’t reach. Sometimes she is just too slow and I have the audacity to try and help her. I swear to God, the other people in the vicinity of the parking lot must think that she has severed a limb getting into the car seat. The screeching can be heard for miles.
The other scary element is that it appears that she likes to strike back when wronged. One day after I had to forcibly wedge her into her car seat, I listened to screeching for 2 blocks and then it got quiet. I glanced in the rear view mirror only to see her tear-streaked face smirking back at me with great satisfaction. “Undone Mommy,” she sneered. And it was true – she had undone the chest strap on her carseat all by herself. I decided to take the 'don’t react' approach and said calmly, “Oh, that is not a good idea. It is not safe.” Now I had her stumped, right? Wrong. “Arms out Mommy” The little monkey then took her arms completely out of the shoulder straps and was now only buckled by the strap between her legs. What could I do? “That’s not cool, Charlotte.” Was I could muster through my clenched teeth.

And then what to do? The drama of stopping the car and making a big production would only encourage the behaviour. However, driving around unbuckled wasn’t safe. As we were close for home I opted for unsafe. Luckily I made the right choice and we made it home safely.

Then there's the sleeping thing. We're still battling the sleeping thing. We're down to 2-3 wake ups....and on a good night only one. You know what though? I'd really like to get a full nights sleep. Sometime. Even just once a month would be nice...I'm not asking for much

The truly trying thing about life right now is that AJ is driving us absolutely crazy as well. Our rational brains tell us this is a ‘normal’ reaction to al the recent turmoil in her life (Mom going back to work, Grandma passing away, Mom and Dad being away and not getting much sleep due to a nasty cold). Also, there is often trouble at this time of year due pre-Christmas excitement, the build up to report cards, etc, etc.

So while our rational brains are telling us to be patient, the reality is that we can only take so much abuse. And I do mean abuse. All of us. Honestly, it is like living with a teenager. Everything is negative. Charlotte takes the brunt of it, and we’re talking both verbal abuse and hitting. It is nasty business.

And, after months of relative calm and good sistering, it seems that we’ve returned to, “I hate having a little sister. Can’t we send her back to her other family?” Sigh

I have recently consulted this site for comfort. http://www.odessa.edu/dept/psyc/wells/2308/fall/gh.htm

The good news is that it confirmed that my children are somewhat normal. The bad news was that it said that 2 ½ and 6 are pretty much the worst ages in terms of behaviour. Repeat sigh, heavily.

It is a good thing they are cute.