I am not sure who came up with the saying, “Terrible Twos,” but three is where it’s at.  Tantrums, defiance, yelling, hitting, “Ah yes how I love three.”

Throughout any given day my wonderful, loving son plays this new game which I call “Jekyll and Hyde.”  In a split second he can go from a crying, screaming child to a laughing kid all while tears are still on his check.  There are times that it truly takes me off guard and either I am in utter disbelief or fighting back a laugh at just the sight of it all.

Throughout any given day there are tears, timeouts, stomping off with arms folded, however now I have realized the delicate balancing act of what keeps me afloat and surviving and what sinks me like the Titanic. If it is 8:00 AM and we already have had two tantrums I know I am goner. I can only hope and pray that the almighty nap might reset things a little, but for the most part the day is a lost cause. This is where my pick and choose my battles tactic comes into play. Of course I do not tolerate defiance, hitting or anything like that. However, if I can tell it is going to be “one of those days”, I might let it slide that Liam insisted on wearing his church dress shoes outside (I can only hope that they don’t get too messed up or he will grow out of them soon).

The beauty of all of this is that Ava loves to do everything that her big brother does, including but not limited to, shaking a finger at me, throwing her water cup, and sitting herself in timeout. This is one of the many reasons why I love my kids being so close together. At least we can get past this set of “crazy” all at once before we enter a new phase or stage of the game. And although there is no doubt in my mind that there will be more “crazy” moments and stages, I believe that this is preparing me for what’s to come. I have already learned that patience and being more stubborn then your kids are the key to keeping it cool. If you are able to keep those in check (at times very difficult) you already have won half the battle.

With all of this being said, every night I go into Liam and Ava’s room to check on them as they sleeps so peacefully. I kiss them on their checks and walk into my bedroom with a huge smile on my face and say to my husband, “I just love them so much.” All the tantrums and tears in the world could never change that.