I really dislike the toddler and early preschool stage of childhood.
There.
I said it.
Bash me. I dont care. I love my daughter. She is an amazing kid, she's funny and sweet....when she feels like it.
She follows directions...when it suits her. She has an attitude like her mother.
God help me.
Nothing I wouldn't do for this kid, but I have a full blown threenager (just turned 4 though) on my hands, minus the talking part, of course.
It's like dealing with a teeny tiny mental patient that I'm not legally allowed to put in a straight jacket. Flase enprisonment laws or some crap like that.
Here's the thing: You're not going to like every stage of your kids life.
I don't care if your house is pintrest perfect decorated, you make all your meals from unprocessed scratch made food, or if little Bronwin has mastered 3 languages, the cello, and is the first 2 year old accepted into the space program.
At some point, darling Bronwin is going to go through a stage that you won't be prepared for....that tests your limits...or just plain pisses you off.
Maybe its the baby stage. Those early days when they are so sweet and adorable and after 3 days of sleep deprivation you take your rage out on the cat and call him an ungrateful A-Hole.
Maybe your toddlers made you realize exactly why some species eat thier own offspring.
Or maybe you're reading this, and you have a teenager. A hygiene challenged, mouthy, sulky teen whom you still love, but would gladly punt over a fence right about now.
Ask my parents. My father made no secret, he thought it should be a law that all children should be shipped to an island at age 13 and left there until they developed back into humans. My mom seemed more tolerate during the teen years, but our whiny school age days seemed to push her buttons. Maybe my memory is foggy, but she seemed to have a lot less patience in those days, probably because she was dealing with 4 kids under 10. Yikes. No wonder.
The point is, It's ok not to adore every stage of their childhood.
It's even ok to wish they would just move on to the next stage already. We've been mired down in the terrible twos since she was 18 months old, and its just not showing any signs of stopping.
I'll be honest and say that my daughter and I spend more time at odds these days. Doesnt mean I love her less. Maybe I even love her more. It's easy to love someone when they're sweet and kind and amicable. Its during those dark days when she's pushed me to my breaking point, that I realize just how much I love her.
So if your struggling, if you're not oozing motherly goodness right now, it's ok.
Keep loving them, and remember, the old saying holds true, this too shall pass. And I truly believe we will miss these days, one day. My kid just dumped over the laundry basket...again. Maybe I wont miss it that much.
