Terrible Three's

One of my sisters recently made a comment that the terrible two's were nothing compared to the three's. I agreed with her. I remember my kids acting the same way. And one of the first things that came to my mind was when my kids said, "I hate you!" Now I know they just said that because they were angry and that's the only way they could express their feelings at that moment. My response usually was, "Well, I don't particularly like you very much either at this moment!"

I can't remember if I ever told my mom that I hated her when I was young. I probably did. I remember my older sister was arguing with my sister and I about something and she called us the "b" word. Well, we were only about six or seven at the time, and we didn't have a clue what the word meant. So we went to look it up in the dictionary. The dictionary said it was a female wolf or dog. We just couldn't understand the context of that name calling, so we went and told mom that she called us the "b" word. Well mom got mad and punished her, so we ended up winning that argument (sorry R).

So, terrible three's, name calling, it's all a part of your child testing their boundaries, and developing their individuality. At the end of the day, they know that you still love them. We just take it day by day, one laundry load after another, one fabulous dinner after another, etc. A mother's work is never done!