#toddlerdictator

[motherandlawyer]

Toddler Dictator at it Again

It's so true that we do just pick our battles as parents to toddler dictators. I'm also expecting number two and rarely have the energy to have WW3.

W woke up this morning and told me he wasn't having breakfast and he was having snacks. This is how it started:

"You will have some breakfast. Just like mummy."

"No I won't."

"Well you won't eat anything then."

"Yes I will!" Runs to cupboard, grabs cracker.

"I'm going to have crackers for breakfast. You aren't my best friend anymore."

"Ok."

Toddler, 1, mummy, 0!

I won't turn into one of those parents that lets their child dictate. Famous last words from around 3 years ago.

[motherandlawyer]

Morning Meltdown

"I am going mummy. You have work!" 🤦🏻‍♀️

Well, what a morning. W the (almost) threenager has had tantrum after tantrum this morning. How dare his banana have a squishy bit (slightly brown for those not versed in W lingo). He woke up far too early and daddy is away, so I'm sure this is why, but give me strength.

The step/time out step/naughty step is absolutely futile, or perhaps even makes the situation worse, apparently. He's like a possessed demon.

To be fair, I feel like this quite often. Imagine if we all acted like this on the outside?!

I even said "if you don't stop hitting mummy, you can't go to pre-school." Why the f*** would I make a promise I won't follow through with? He loves pre-school. He lost his s*** and quite frankly, I can't think of anything worse. Quite apart from the work I have to do (and workout class I need for my now deteriorating mental state), I don't really want this all day. Thankfully he won't do this at pre-school. He's a star, polite and popular.

He assertively said: "I am going mummy. You have work." TOUCHÉ W. Touché.

Did he win? Sort of. Did I lose? Absolutely. But I'm trying not to feel like a failure. I've just commenced Cognitive Brain Therapy (CBT) for what appears to be prenantal anxiety. The joys. It sucked, but I can't expect him to be rational.

What did I expect? He is MY offspring. 😂

[motherandlawyer]

Bedtime Bother. Go Outside and Milk a Cow, Mummy.

My two and a half year old has been resisting bed (& bathing) for some time. On some days he's so tired that the resistance is shortlived, now and again he decides to be good, but mainly he screams blue murder and thinks of ways he can stall the process.

Last night was relatively smooth. He cried about bathing and screamed to get out, but he voluntarily got in his bed. He asked a few questions, but he didn't disagree with which character was which, a common occurance.

However, he decided that he did indeed want some milk, which he had declined downstairs. He specifically told me he wanted me to go downstairs and get it, but he wouldn't drink it. He then said:

"Mummy, go outside and milk a cow!"

Well...I couldn't help but laugh. He's creative at stalling, I'll give him that!

[motherandlawyer]

Toddler Dictator

Have you ever encountered one?

It just all makes sense how people succumbed to some crazy dictatorships.

I am so tired. I'm a slave mother. I walk around like the mombie that I am, doing what my toddler tells me to. He's even started dictating me in a relatively polite fashion.

I've created a monster.