There are few things here at the home front that we are working on simultaneously with Pax. First and foremost is the dreaded potty training, which on any given day, can go from fantastic to horrible. Potty training has got to be one of the worst parts of parenting a child before the teenage years.
Then a whole new can of worms opens, and I am not sure if I will ever be able to brace myself enough for what is to come. If that old adage "You reap what you sow" is true, than Scott and I are in a heap of trouble.
Besides potty training, we are also in the midst of trying to lose a sweet tooth in our boy that sprouted sometime around Halloween last year, and has only grown into monstrous proportions now as we have gone through the holiday season, Valentines day, and then Easter. Throw a few birthday parties in between, and sugar has now become an actual food group in our home.
Delanie, although she loves her some sugar, hasn't seemed to protest losing the daily addiction to the beast. She actually longs to eat healthy, and will choose stuff to eat based on whether she thinks it might be too sugary for her. This is unbelievable to me. Since I can't understand it, I just go with it and pretend that it's totally normal.
Pax, not so much.
His game to get the sweets has really evolved over the last few months. At first he wasn't so slick. He would just flat out ask for more. We'd of course say no, and then he would throw a tantrum that made Mt Vesuvius look like a minor eruption. Sometimes, I have to admit it would work, but we were always on to his little game. It was just a matter of trying to keep the peace in a sticky situation.
When that stopped working, he stepped it up a notch. At first we thought he was on some huge growth spurt. Constantly he was stating, "I hungry, momma." After every meal, big or small, he was always hungry. It took us about a week before we figured out that he thought by telling us all the time he was hungry, that at some point we would turn to him and say "Oh my, Pax, you're hungry! Well, I can't have that! Goodness sakes sweet boy, let me get you a cookie." He is still often caught saying this phrase especially right after he has already been given something sweet.
Because we all know that after an almost 3 year old polishes off a brownie, if he is still hungry we should automatically just offer up another....riiiiiiiight.
Nice try, pal.
In the last few days he has really got Scott and I at our breaking points. At this point it will be a battle of the wills... I just hope I have the strength to endure. He has now stopped eating complete meals in hopes that with his hunger at its highest point, his behavior will become so erratic that we will say "Good heavens, this child's behavior is so poor is must be because he is so hungry! Quick get him several cookies to eat so at least he's got something in his system."
Obviously, we're on to him.
Since all his plots have been foiled up to this point, he has now taken it so far, he may just have us with this one: With the potty training in full force we have been rewarding all accomplishments with candy. So yesterday, when Pax refused to eat breakfast and dinner, and was baffled by me not allowing him to eat cookies until the next meal was ready, he first relied on the tantrum method.
Shot down.
Next up, the "Mommy, I am still hungry" technique. With that I responded with the meal he refused to eat fresh from the fridge.
Foiled again.
What he thought may seal the deal (sadly enough, it almost worked too), the erratic behavior. Thankfully, daddy swooped in and stayed strong when mommy wanted to crumble.
Got'cha!
Then it came...
Pax: Mommy, I think I have to go pee-pee.
me: OK! Let's quick get to the potty! (I am so excited at this point! He has told me that he needs to go! He actually knows when it's time!)
Pax: Ya, and when I go, you have to feed me a Sweet Tart. Big boys who go pee pee in the potty get to eat candy!
DANG IT!
So Pax lived on a glass of milk, lunch, and a few Sweet Tarts yesterday.
It's parenting at it's finest!
No comments:
Post a Comment