3 Year Olds

It has been a while, and I'm going to try very hard to get back to blogging.

3 year old children are exhausting. Okay, maybe its just mine. My particular three year old is an interesting balance of pure craziness and pure cuteness. From day to day, even hour to hour I'm never quite sure which side I'm going to be dealing with.

Friday afternoon I put Emma down for nap and she decided to throw a screaming fit like I had never heard from her. Generally there is a reason she throws a fit, but today I couldn't figure it out. Once I finally got her attention and got her to calm down, we had a conversation about how that isn't something we do, asking her whether she'd ever heard Mommy and Daddy throw a fit like that. Through her teary eyes, and pouty lip she managed to shake her head no. I asked her if she could tell me what was wrong and she shook her head no. I asked her if she was going to settle down and go to sleep, and she shook her head yes. Then we exchanged a hug and a kiss and off to sleep she went.

This morning it took her twenty minutes to get her socks and shoes so we could got the grocery store. With much frustration (on both sides), she managed to get them on and we went about our day.

She also has a very sweet side. She loves to share with her Mommy and Daddy. She's very good at sharing her Halloween candy (Brian and I have been taking full advantage, because someday she's going to figure out what she's doing!), and loves to give us lots of hugs and kisses.

Sometimes when we ask her to do things she responds with "OF Course Mommy!" and runs off to do whatever it is we asked. Other times it's like we're asking her to do the impossible.

I love how creative she is at this age, and I love that when she chooses she can actually communicate her frustrations very clearly. I'd say three is easier then two for this reason. As another Mom said though, I don't understand how her mood can change faster than a pregnant woman, a PMSing woman, or a hormonal teenage girl. In those moments I take a deep breath and remember someday she'll be older and instead she'll be talking back.