• Post by guest contributor and local mum, Cath •
All stage of parenting come with their challenges. The lack of sleep associated with the newborn stage. Followed by the getting into everything when they learn to crawl stage. Then there is the falling over and bumping their head stage as they learn to walk. Which sets us up for the terrible twos.
That all prepares us for the stage I am at right now – living with head strong threenager.
A healthy dose of independence, mixed in with a similar serve of zero patience, sprinkled with a hint of attitude and you have my daughter, Miss 3.
Here are 7 signs you may have a threenager on your hands.
“I do it myself”
This is my daughter’s favourite saying in the world. Whether it is putting her shoes on, or climbing into her car seat she has to insist “I do it myself”. Which usually results in us being at least 10 minutes late to wherever we need to be.
A unique sense of style
When getting dressed for the day we have to lay out at least 5 shirts and at least 5 pairs of leggings for her to “play the picking game”. There is no possible way you can convince her that something does not match.
Yesterday she went to child care wearing the bright orange socks from Sky Zone and a pair of purple sandals. I shudder at the thought of what the child care teachers must think of us.
Not that one
When you choose the wrong colour plate or cup it is like the end of the world. Don’t even dare put peanut butter on something when Vegemite is the order of the day. The meltdown that follows is next level.
Mood swings
One minute we are dancing around the lounge room to The Wiggles. The next Miss 3 is on the floor in tears having a tantrum because the song ended and the next one to come on is not to her liking.
Right now!
Up there with “I do it myself” is adding RIGHT NOW to the end of most sentences. I get out of the bath right now. I eat food right now. I want to go to the park right now! All said whilst raising her voice and stomping her foot with all the sass only a three year old can muster.
Naps are for babies
Miss 3 gave up her day sleep before she was even three. On the days when she has not slept well the night before and is displaying all the tell tale signs that she needs to have a sleep, don’t even dare suggest to her that she might like a nap.
Not the dreaded N word. Instead we ask if she would like to have a rest. That seems to be an acceptable alternative for her.
Selective memory
When I ask what she did at child care that day, the answer is always “nothing”. Which of course is not true as I get the pictures of exactly what she did that day.
But if I ask her what happened in an episode of Paw Patrol she watched two days ago, she can give me a blow by blow account.
Despite the challenges that come along with having a threenager in your house, there is actually something quite enjoyable about it.
Miss 3 is a great protective big sister, and while she asserts her independence, most of the time she has time for kisses and cuddles with mummy.
She makes us laugh every day and whilst she sometimes sends me to the brink of insanity, she will bring me back off the edge with a funny one liner that has us all in fits of hysterics.
About Cath
Cath is a shire local all her life who now called Como home with her husband and two daughters, aged three and one.
