Three-year olds are passionate about what they want
\nand don\u2019t want. Recently, my three-year old asked for
\nsome water. It went something like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want water. I\u2019m getting water.\u201d Off he marched to
\nfulfill his request.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you don\u2019t get water by yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want water!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell me no! You don\u2019t tell me no!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to ask nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get water for me NOW, please.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not asking nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMomma, I want water now!\u201d He hopped and stomped and
\nscowled and clenched his hands into fists.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook. You either ask nicely and politely or you get
\nnothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He brightened with a big smile. \u201cPlease can I have
\nsome water?\u201d<\/p>\n
I happily and immediately got up to get him some
\nwater, praising him for asking so nicely. He followed
\nme into the kitchen, skipping along. I handed him the
\ncup of water.<\/p>\n
\u201cI WANT ICE CUBES!\u201d he screamed at the top of his
\nlungs.<\/p>\n
\u201cNaptime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naptime is what happens when small kiddos push all of
\nMom\u2019s buttons and wear her patience thin. There is a
\ndifference between a child that is learning manners
\nand needs reminders and an impudent little brat that
\ncould make the world\u2019s most formidable dictator wither
\nin fear.<\/p>\n
I sent his Lordship to his room. Before he even got
\nthere he was screaming epithets and howling with
\ninjustice.<\/p>\n
Thank God for doors. Doors are what separate human
\nbeings from the rest of the animal kingdom. If it
\nweren\u2019t for doors, we\u2019d eat our young. It\u2019s such a
\nsmall price to pay for some peace and quiet.<\/p>\n
My husband came home and asked me how my day was. I
\nnodded wearily toward our son\u2019s bedroom door. He was
\nsobbing and sounding pretty miserable. Weakly his
\nvoice carried through the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad? Please can I have some water?\u201d<\/p>\n
As if mean, evil Momma had denied him this humble
\nrequest and had banished him from the family forever.
\nIt must have been the longest and most forlorn ten
\nminutes of his life.<\/p>\n
It was heaven for me.<\/p>\n
Dealing with a three-year old all day is like smacking
\nyour head against a wall and then being worshipped on
\na pedestal. You alternate between the two. You are
\neither his worst enemy or you are the one being in the
\nentire world he cherishes and will go out of his way
\nto adore. You are either \u2018in\u2019 or \u2018out\u2019. You are
\neither his best friend or his biggest foe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t love you anymore!\u201d is first uttered at the
\nage of three.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry. Chances are you have something he wants.
\nEverybody does. He\u2019ll be back in no time screaming,
\n\u201cMine, mine, mine!\u201d<\/p>\n
Heaven help us all.<\/p>\n
. . . . . . . . . . .
\nJelly Mom\u2122 is written by Lisa Barker, mother of five
\nand author of “Just Because Your Kids Drive You
\nInsane… Doesn’t Mean You Are A Bad Parent!” and is
\nsyndicated through Martin-Ola Press\/Parent To Parent.
\nTo publish Jelly Mom, buy the book or leave comments,
\nplease visit http:\/\/www.jellymom.com. Sign up for the
\ncomplimentary Jelly Mom\u2122 weekly newsletter and receive
\na BONUS GIFT!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three-year olds are passionate about what they want and don\u2019t want. Recently, my three-year old asked for some water. It went something like this. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jelly-mom-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}