Whoever Coined the Pharse "Terrible Twos" Apparently Did Not Yet Have a Three Year Old

Clayton turned 3 years old at the end of December.  At that point we had been pretty lucky and somehow escaped this so called "terrible twos".  I am not sure what is so terrible about a 2-year old, because for the most part Clay was easy.  I mean he had his moments, but nothing that couldn't be handled simply.  January flew by until somewhere near the end of the month my once "easy" little boy turned into something closely akin to tamed lion, easy and gentle one minute and aggressive and angry the next.  What in the world happened???

Now our days are definitely a mix of good and bad moments.  If I can get through an hour without a complete melt down from Clay, then I applaud myself and do a little happy dance!  He is currently testing his limits to the fullest.  Anything and everything is far game, even issues that I thought were long ago solved. 

Case in point: Mommy's shower.   I like to shower alone, but at one time it was easier to just bring Clay into the shower with me.  By doing this I know exactly where he is and that he is not getting into trouble.  An added bonus is that he's now had his bath and it is one less thing on my to-do list.  But long story short, a little boy cannot shower with his mother forever and at some point it has to end.  So just before Wesley was born I was done.  After a few days of tantrums while Mommy was in the shower and a couple of incidents of Clay climbing into my shower fully clothed it was over. Now I could shower alone (with the exception of the hot wheels, empty plastic bottles, and various other toys) or so I thought. 

The last two mornings I have spent my shower trying to wash my hair while holding the shower curtain closed as a 3-year old attempts to keep it open.  Additionally, I have been serenaded with the angry sounds of my tame lion making sure that I know and understand how displeased he really is.  The best part is there is no reasoning with him.  Who argues with a 3-year old anyway?? Not me (right).

Everything is dramatic and over the top when Clay feels he has been wronged or doesn't get his way.  When this occurs a tantrum, screaming, and lots of crying insues.  He even yells at me.  To add to all that he is as stubborn as they come and even puts me to the test.

Monday I took both boys and went to Savers (basically Goodwill) for their 50% off President's Day sale.  Yes, not only do I shop consignment and second hand stores, I shop them on sale!   I love getting a great deal and seeing how big my "you saved" amount at the bottom of my reciept can get, but that's another story.  I was looking for some larger cool weather clothes for Wes, size 4T stuff for Clay, and some jeans for myself (right now I have little that fits).  One great thing about shopping for kids clothes is there is no trying on necessary, but that is not the case with me.  So many brands, types of cuts and rise, streach and non-streach, plus the shrinkage factor of used clothes makes trying on a necessity for me.  Added in is the fact that I am dealing with a post-baby body and well I think one's body comes out different after each pregnacy. 

So we enter the fitting rooms with 3 pairs of jeans that I wanted to try on.  This is when the problems started. Clay was not at all interested in staying in the fitting room with me while I took a few minitues to try on jeans.  Nope, he wanted to wait outside.  I don't mind comprimising with him on most days but because of the sale the store was really busy and leaving him to his own devices outside of the fitting room was not an option.  The first time he crawled under the fitting room door he paused long enough to look at me and state "Mommy, you stay in there".  I opened the door, retrived that tame lion, and placed him on the fitting room bench.  I explained that I had 3 pairs of jeans to try on and then we could go look at the toys.  I tried to engage his help by asking him to hold the jeans for me and count them as I tried them on, yeah no go.  About the time I had my pants around my ankles he made a break for it again.  I caught him, pulled him back into the fitting room, and placed him on the bench.  No sooner had his little bottom touched the bench, he was off.  For the third time I pulled him back and placed him on the bench.  I now was fully aware of the fact that if I planned to try on any of these pants, that I would have to do so on the fly.  The next few minitues proceed like this: one leg in pair of pants one, block child from door, place child on bench, second leg in pair of pants one, block child and place on bench, pull up pair of pants one, stop child from climbing off bench, take pair of pants one off, pull child back from under the fitting room door, etc.etc.  I leave pair of pants 2 and 3 to your imagination.  Somewhere in the mist of trying on my second and third pair of pants my stubborn, angry lion hit his breaking point.  I had just placed him on the bench once again when he pauses and looks at me. His face is bright red with tears streaming down it and his little body is shaking with anger.  His raises his finger, points at me and yells " Mommy, stop it! Just stop it!" and breaks into sobs.  He picks up his shoe, which he has lost during our battle, throws it in the shopping cart, climbs in after it, and proceeds to cry.  Needless, to say I was able to put my own pants back on in relative peace. 

The hardest part of it all was keeping my pateince.  If I keep my voice soft and calm, I find that I get a lot further with him.  That being said staying in a calm, happy place, while struggling with an angry 3-year old is not an easy feat.  I have not perfected it for sure, but I am getting better at it.  The other difficulty is walking out of the fitting rooms and recieving stares and looks from most everyone standing within earshot. Obviously, they have never had children or have long since forgotten what it is like to have one.  Kudos to the few who give you that empathetic smile or say something like "I've been there".  It is those few that I'd like to hug.

So I guess that for now I will be living life with my tamed lion.  Yes, he is unpredictable and although you never know when he is going to have the temper tanrum of the century, you can be certain that it will be in the most embrassing public place possible.  I will take this as a learning expereince as a labor of love and work on improving my patience in the process.  I will probably be needing it even more in the future.  Good thing they start out small!!!

I Love You Clay!!