Two.... and a half!

My little beauty was always bright and sweet and well behaved. And then her little brother was born. My charming little girls suddenly knew how to hit and bite, and "NO" became her favorite word. I know, I know.... I have no idea how much harder a teenager can be, or a toddler boy, or any of those other things people try to scare me about. What I do know is that little miss two and a half has sparked my worst momtrums ever! Some days all I want to do is hide in my room. Sometimes I lay awake at night dreaming up ways to escape from responsibility for a couple of hours.

Some of the simplest things send my mommy-fried mind into a tailspin. This morning Anna wanted to give Christopher his binky, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. The poor little guy kept spitting it out only to have her shove it back in again. I let it go on for about a minute before I flipped. And even with threats of punishment and loud voice, Anna would not let it go!

No big deal, right? But when it happens ten times a day, every day, it gets to be a little much.
And then there is the flip side- if she can't be in charge of him, she has to be just like him. The other day she crapped her pants just so she could be like her baby brother. Poor girl wasn't trying to be naughty or gross.... just wanted to be like Christopher. It would have been funny if I hadn't been running on about three hours of sleep. Luckily, by God's grace, I managed to avoid a freak out, and calmly cleaned her up before sending her back to nap. Next time I don't know if we will be as lucky!