Thrombastic Threes

Maddie turns three next week.  I've decided that, at least according to our household, there is not much to the "terrible two's" moniker.  Both of our girls were fairly angelic little creatures at 2.  But 3, well now, that's a different story.  I'm calling it "thrombastic three".  Suddenly parenting takes on new challenges - and often leaves me feeling frustrated.  I remember this with Hope, at pretty much the same age.  And, oddly I've found it mentioned in several books on parenting/discipline that three seems to be particularly notorious for this, nevermind 2.  So recently, Maddie has been testing me quite a bit...but I guess it's good.  It has made me take the time to stop and re-evaluate my disciplinary motives and strategies, the big picture of parenting and my goals therein, and has given me renewed focus for moving forward with my children.  Nevertheless, oh my - there have been some moments recently that practically left my head spinning.  Wow - three year olds!  Has anyone else found three to be more difficult than two?

Comments

[Heather]

Hadley's been 3 for two weeks now and it's been quite the challenge. Add illness, travel, and very little sleep to the mix. Yeah, fun times at our house! Three is definitely a difficult age.

[Sara Beth]

I agree--3 is much worse than 2. I think that something about 2 is still "baby" (which makes me think they don't know any better--after all, they are only 2) and at 3 they are disobeying, and they MEAN too...not sure if that makes sense, but you get my drift.

[Allison Rankin]

I have a shirt that says "You don't scare me, I have a 2 year old." When I wore it, other moms laughed and said "3 is WAY harder than 2!" I didn't believe it until John turned 3 and became much more defiant, independent, and definitely challenging! I can only imagine what Kara will be like by then!