Threenagers

Is it weird to be in the midst of the Threenager stage and want to run around telling all of the other Threenager parents to enjoy these days? Because, man, I keep running into people who are about to jump off a bridge about the hardness of Three. On one hand, four is worse! Don't wish it upon yourself so soon! On the other hand, Threenagers are SO FUN.

For real.

They're fun.

I say this as someone who has dealt with a fit every morning for the past ... I don't know. Fits are just part of our morning routine. I ask Mila what she wants for breakfast, she answers, and then I get yelled at for supplying exactly what she asked me to supply. Sometimes I end up with a pancake flying across my kitchen, which COME ON. That's funny! It's funny for a little person to feel so deeply that they would commit to throwing food that they requested! Unless it had peanut butter on it. Then it's not quite as funny.

Still. The feeling deeply. That's what Three is all about. Everything three-year olds feel they feel out loud. The bad, the ugly, and the good. I ran through Walmart with Mila this evening and she spent the whole time with her head spinning as she kept finding things she loved. "Look at that plant! I love it!" "That pillow is so beautiful. I love it!" Right now she's sitting in Alexis' lap looking through a magazine and declaring, "Wow! That's so awesome!"

It's pretty outstanding.

It's also my motto for surviving when the mood swings the other way. As Mila yells, "I don't want pancakes!" and starts sobbing, I reply with "Wow! That's so awesome!" because why not? I do manage to tell her that I understand what she's saying and all of that. The important validating that her feelings and blah, blah, blah. I'm not a monster; I just find the joy in the fact that she can get mad about her plain white socks being on the wrong feet, the fact that Penny is looking at her, and that her waffle doesn't have enough "spots" on it.

Enjoy your Threenagers, internet. They're entertaining little people if you just pause long enough to see it. Also, they eventually grow up to be tweens and LET ME JUST TELL YOU.

Ahem.

Comments

[Christine]

Two had NOTHING on three. At three, not only did my son tell you no, but then he gave you the full-on dissertation as to why he was telling you no...