When we had Barrett, he was a tiny {truly} piece of perfection. A belly aching, screaming, spitting piece of perfection, but our perfection just the same. After he worked out his tummy troubles, he was even more fantastic and we toted him to and fro without much tadoo. Barrett’s been a social, conversive, funny little man from that point on and to be quite honest, I’ve prided myself on the fact that of all things he does well, being sweet and endearing top the list. However, as of late, our somewhat tenacious little toddler has been testing out his newfound independence and making choices that we don’t always agree with.
Ninety-six percent of the time, I think Barrett rocks and the other four percent I might kick outta bed for eating crackers. Like any parent, we are happy to see Barrett’s personality peak … we just wish it were a little more predictable.
It started about two months ago with Barrett trying out tantrums. Fuming and fussing seemed to be a new game for him and crying until he was blue in the face was not an uncommon occurrence. We feel, at least for the current time, we’ve cleared that hurdle by being consistent and calm however Barrett’s ushered in some other traits that make us shake our heads. It seems Barrett did, indeed, inherit my hyper-sensitivity as the word no sends his eyes into a torrential downpour … and yes, we say it firm and often. He seems to have inherited someone’s strong-willed nature {still trying to determine who exactly is to blame for this} as he shakes his head furiously when he disagrees and refuses foods who does not want. I can often be heard in stating “Barrett, if you need to let it out, go ahead. We’re in Target. In the middle of the day. Everyone here has children. And they are just happy it isn’t there’s who is having a fit” in response to his whining and whimpering. And of course, to add insult to injury, Barrett apparently also seems to think it’s okay to push, pinch and prod these days… none of which I model at home {I promise}. And thus, my once prideful prowess in the always-sweet-and-endearing child has become more selective these days.
While I want to attribute some of his irrational behavior to three bulging bumps in his ever-teething gums and I also hear some of these things are typically toddler, I find myself wondering how we can teach Barrett to use these traits — a sensitive nature, strong-willed mentality and others — for good and not evil and how to survive as he tries his new attitudes on for size.
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