Threenager alert!

Life has become interesting lately. Our sweet little Owen is turning into a threenager. Holy cow does he test my patience…what little of it I have left.

We tell Owen to NOT do something or STOP doing something…and he turns right around and does it.

He has zero attention span when we ask him to pick up toys. It’s a constant repetition of “Owen, please put all your toys away. Owen, please put your cars away. Owen, please put your cars in this box. Owen, put your cars away now. OWEN! Mama asked you to put your cars away. If you don’t, I’m taking them away.”

And every time you ask him to put something away—whether he’s actively playing with it or not—he says “No, I’m just playing!” And then wants to play with whatever you wanted him to put away.

He’ll whine that he “doesn’t want a snack/drink/toy/etc. anymore” and then two minutes later he wants it.

He is starting to get more destructive—he was “helping” by winding Katie’s pack-and-play mobile…and actually doing okay so I left him alone, only to come back five minutes later and it was completely broken off and he was playing with it on the floor. 😐

He’s broken a bunch of toys just rough housing with them or not being careful. I make him throw them in the garbage.

The day care lady had to talk to him today—a first. 😐 He was throwing toys at or with another kid. She said they talked about it, he apologized, and things were okay, but she just wanted to let me know. Oh, and he also snuck into the bathroom and was playing at the sink…his shirt was completely drenched when I picked him up after only an hour. I commented that he has just turned into a threenager during the past week or so and she said it appears to be going around.

And potty training. Oh man, don’t get me started on potty training. He had the peeing down completely after really just a week (with just a few accidents after his nap or in the morning, which was to be expected) and poop has been a challenge since day one. So we get home from vacation, and suddenly he’s peeing in his underwear and ON THE FLOOR. And poop is still a huge issue—he knows poop goes in the potty and he’s excited and happy when he does go, yet I typically spend all day cleaning up poopy underwear and his poopy butt because he either doesn’t realize he’s pooping, he does realize and just doesn’t care, or he’s just being super obstinate. I know he’s still learning, but it’s super frustrating.

One time he called me over to tell me he had poop on his foot. Yes, poop. On his foot. And it was completely dried. So I have no idea when or where he stepped in poop (I haven’t smelled it or found it). And then he threw a holy terror tantrum when I made him stick his foot in the bath to clean it. And this was after I had to strip his bed again because he peed in his bed (and on the floor) during his nap. Yes, potty training might just kill me.

Anyone want our threenager? Just temporarily, mind you?

2 Replies to “Threenager alert!”

  1. Oh man. That’s not our Owen! Wonder what is going on? Wonder if it is a delayed reaction to being the second kid in the house. Is he doing it for attention? I can see how trying it must be. I’m sure it is not unusual, or permanent–but nonetheless frustrating!!! Has “timeout” worked at all?

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