GWEN! Tipping Point

Gwen has reached some sort of tipping point the last few weeks (which I realize is really the last couple months) and it caught me off guard. She is bigger. She gets hysterical when clothes and shoes that used to fit her are tight screaming, "I"M A SIZE 5 NOW!" I was starting to think she was developing a sensory disorder. She is even more independent, more helpful, more playful, and of course smarter. This has made it that much more confusing to me when she clings to my legs crying for either an unknown reason (since I can't understand her through her hysterics), or answers, "NO!" to everything I suggest. Being three years old is apparently really hard. Being a parent to a three year old is down right crazy making. The mood swings are intense and it makes me dread the teenage years. She keeps throwing back at me the things I say to her, which is infuriating. It took me a few weeks to realize that I was allowing myself to be drawn into power struggles repeatedly, and that it was causing my beautiful sweet Gwen to be a brat. There. I said it. Well I have taken a step back and am dusting off all the tools in my parenting toolbox, and trying to take out some that don't work so well (during this crisis we resorted to bribes and threats which are satisfying to throw out in the moment, but not very effective in the long run). I have to remind myself she is only three years old. I am the parent, which doesn't mean I am in charge, but I am responsible for the tone of the conversation. Mama sets the mood, whether I like that fact or not. The tipping point for me was when she was screaming about something and I put my finger in my ears to block out the noise. She got very upset by this, and I told her honestly she was hurting my ears. I was acting like a child, and it dawned on me in that moment that someone who wasn't three years old had to take control of the situation. Now that I have adjusted to this growth in development, I am able to appreciate my three year old a little more. She has started sleeping through the night, and now sleeps on the top of the bunk bed she shares with Graham. She is such a good big sister. Graham absolutely adores her, and her possessions, and what ever she is doing, and more often than not, she is very inclusive with him. And this month she finally graduated to being able to go to gymnastics with the big girls (class without parent participation- yay!). I am constantly amazed at her and who she is and I am so grateful to be her Mom.