The house is a mess, I should be packing for the trip to the coast we're leaving for tonight, or cleaning, or doing just about anything but writing, but the fact is that my house is quiet. It's amazing what a brain can do when its thoughts can be heard!
The fact is that the normal noise level in our home has elevated this week due to the fact that a certain someone seems to be entering the "terrible twos", four months early. Yes, yesterday my fun-loving, cute-as-can-be child erupted into that screaming, throw-yourself-on-the-ground monster that every parent-to-be swears their children will never be like. Luckily, there are a few "I've been there" parents around who know what you're going through. As one person said on a blog I just read, it's as if "[t]he formerly cute baby in my arms had suddenly morphed into a red-faced, furious monster. Kind of like Jack-Jack at the end of 'The Incredibles.'"
It began when we had to leave The Play Factory. I had already had a rough morning. The library's annual Teddy Bear Picnic had been written on my calendar for weeks, and I was looking forward to spending quality time with my girls. We wrestled out the door with teddy bears in hand, only to leave the house 30 minutes after the concert started. Clearly I have not figured out how long to allow for getting two little ones out the door. Once we arrived at the park, there was no parking close by, meaning that we would get to the concert 45 minutes late. Considering that it was a children's concert, I thought the likelihood of having music for more than one hour was slim. Feeling like a failure, I called Josh on the phone and cried to him about what a bad mom I am. He suggested The Play Factory.
The Play Factory is a wonderful playroom set up in a local toy store. This is one of those toy stores that is fun to look around in, but hard to buy anything from because of the exhorbitant prices. However, their playroom includes all of these toys, with only the cost of $3.50 per visit. Iris loves it there. She loves it so much, that she never wants to leave. Thus, the extreme tantrum that left me with no choice other than to take her out to the car and head home immediately, instead of buying her the one thing inside that I was originally planning getting for her. My embarrassment was probably as apparent to the other moms looking at us as her screams were to the whole store and I carried her, arm around her waist with Linnea's carseat in my other hand, out the door.
What happened to make my easygoing, fun-loving child blow up like Vesuvius? I called my mom in tears a few weeks ago for the assurance that this is normal. Even though it is, however, it doesn't make it easier. No one told me that I would hate disciplining my child, that it would hurt when she would disobey and refuse to apologize. I guess that's what we get for loving. Along with the incredible joy that comes with children are the times of heartache. I wouldn't give any of it up to spare the pain, but that doesn't make it too much easier. Even so, while Iris is going through this difficult stage, I do get to look at Linnea and realize that it will be a little while before we have to deal with her in the same way. This makes me savor the her smiles much more, and makes the happy times with Iris even more precious.
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