Three is the New Two

Whoever coined the phrase "Terrible Twos" either lost his/her child before their 3rd birthday or walked out of the house missing that 3rd year all together. Let me explain.

Now that we are half way into our third year with Jeffrey I realize that the 2's were nothing more than hyper activity and more aggression but nothing really annoying like the CONSTANT WHINING that the 3's brought on. Today we were in the store buying our weekly groceries and Jeffrey looks at me with his sweet little angelic face and says, "Mommy, peas I have new car?" I replied with my standard, "Jeffrey, you know that if you are well behaved in this store you always get to pick out a new car." Now considering that we shop in this store every single week you would think that this response would be just fine and not spark anything ill willed. Oh My Goodness! How wrong was that assumption??

As if I had said, "NO YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER NEW TOY AGAIN FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!" he began this huge meltdown in the middle of the store. "Mommy!!!! Shoo need new car peas!!!!!" Not only was I completely mortified but I was also a little baffled by this response. I took action to diffuse the situation by bending down to his level and speaking to him in a very soft voice (so that he would have to stop yelling in order to hear my words) and I said, "if you don't stop your fit we will turn around and leave the store. You know what happens if mommy has to leave a store before she is ready right?" At that point he began to calm down and he replied with, "yes, Shoo gets a panking if we leave early." At this point I really thought that the situation had dissolved and that I would be able to continue my shopping in peace and quite until he asked the question that would shock me. "Mommy, if we leave the store early and Shoo gets a panking, can I come back and get a car?"

Needless to say, I scooped him up, put him in the cart, finished my shopping, left the store and no cars were purchased for the day. I had to hand it to him though, if he was willing to take punishment for throwing a fit just so long as he got a toy at least he is thinking out the whole "cause and effect" thing. I know that this is only a stage but geez, it is a trying stage. It tries on my nerves, patience and ability to remain calm while attempting to put out little emotional fires all around me. Here is hoping that 4 is a little better.:-)