My Toddler is Going To Hell

Either that or just driving me crazy as just punishment for things I have done in my past. Something like that.

Lets look at the facts, shall we?

Braeden (The Boy) is 34 1/2 months old. He will be three in early August. When he was born, he had reflux. He nursed for 12 weeks and was not toooooo bad. He went on formula and then a different one and then a different one. We finally found one that seemed to help with the worst of it. We still spent his first six months dealing with constant spit up and no sleep. He screamed. All the time. It was bad.

Then he got a little better. He only screamed part of the time. And he hated going to sleep. The boy has only slept through the night maybe ten times in the past three years. Really. He will NOT go to bed without a fight. I am talking about kicking, hitting, biting, screaming, head butting, body thrashing fights. And hours of putting him back in bed every five minutes until he finally breaks down and falls asleep. Usually in the hallway.

And then there are the night terrors. And the sleep walking.

And a total refusal to nap at all.

So, is it any wonder the boy has behavior issues? He has never, not once in three years, gotten a good night's sleep. He has so-so sleeps. He has good mornings where he is pleasant and easy to be around and cooperative and only misbehaves in normal 3 yo ways. And then... by lunchtime... he melts down. He kicked me in the face the other night and I lost it. I started crying on the phone with my MIL and telling her that if he is not crazy by this point in the sleep deprivation cycle that I probably am!

Today, we went to Walmart. Which is a whole other blog post. But, the part of this that pertains to THIS post is that... my children are embarrassing. Really. Both boys spent the entire trip whining and crying and trying to climb out of the buggy. And then I noticed that they both had dirt on their faces. So, now I look like some kind of redneck, dirty kid, cannot control their kids mom. And they probably have 12 toes too.

I know that all kids give you hassles. God knows that I had to drag The Girl out of stores more than once when she was 3 - 4 yo. But.... maybe it is just that I lack the patience to deal with this. I would almost rather become a hermit than deal with this level of.... misbehavior... in public. For lack of a better word.

And he does.not.listen.to.me. At all. I feel like the three male people who live in my house cannot seem to hear the tone of my voice. I speak. I know I am speaking. I can hear myself. But, no response. I could be speaking klingon and dancing naked for all of the attention they pay to me.

I try. Goddess knows I try. I try to teach them to pick up their toys. And not eat each others bodily excretions. And maybe not grind chocolate into the carpet. And I try to teach them not to hurt each other. And to share. And to please please please not bite mommy. And I try to get them to understand that cooperation is best. Yeah right.

Toddlers. They are going to hell.

Wait. I am in hell now, aren't I?