As most of you parents will share these sentiments, I will start by saying that I absolutely adore my daughter. Her individual spirit. Her laugh. Her joy for life. Her love of reading. I could go on.
We've reached a junction in her life that is commonly referred to as the "Terrible 2's." Doesn't that have a negative connotation? Sure, but it has been widely accepted as a rite of passage in a restrospectively laughable way.
I want to propose something--perhaps with even more of a negative connotation, but I hope equally laughable.
I think Addison has entered into the "Bipolar 2's."
Let me explain. She goes from one extreme behavior to another. Adorable to deplorable. Thankfully, mostly adorable, but the contrast is striking.
85-95% of the time, her adorable behavior, curiosity about life, body of knowledge, developing vocabulary and imagination is absolutely delightful. She can make me laugh and smile more than any person I know. She can cuddle and make me feel so loved. Basically, most of the time, I want to bottle up this little individual, squeeze her cheeks, and gush (even though, as a rule, I. Do. Not. Gush. Period.)
The other percent of the time, it's as if some force has entered her that is completely inexplicable. She can go from 0-90 with no warning or obvious stimulant and completely. melt. down. She will exert her strong will and collapse in defeat when she is corrected.
As a parent, I'm left scouring my books, praying for patience, asking for guidance. What do you do? How do you curtail the behavior without crushing the spirit? I know and have read most of the answers to these questions, but you still stop and ask. Most of the time I have to stifle a laugh. Ignoring usually works best. Last night, I just threw my hands in the air as we were just "THAT family."
Man, I love that girl.
Here are some recent pictures of our latest summer adventure. We enjoyed a poolside evening at Richland with great company and great food. Of course, I forgot my camera, so these pictures are courtesy of Lindsay. (Sidenote: Right before dinner, someone "tossed their cookies" in the pool, so afterwards we enjoyed some sprinkler fun.)
As most of you parents will share these sentiments, I will start by saying that I absolutely adore my daughter. Her individual spirit. Her laugh. Her joy for life. Her love of reading. I could go on.
We've reached a junction in her life that is commonly referred to as the "Terrible 2's." Doesn't that have a negative connotation? Sure, but it has been widely accepted as a rite of passage in a restrospectively laughable way.
I want to propose something--perhaps with even more of a negative connotation, but I hope equally laughable.
I think Addison has entered into the "Bipolar 2's."
Let me explain. She goes from one extreme behavior to another. Adorable to deplorable. Thankfully, mostly adorable, but the contrast is striking.
85-95% of the time, her adorable behavior, curiosity about life, body of knowledge, developing vocabulary and imagination is absolutely delightful. She can make me laugh and smile more than any person I know. She can cuddle and make me feel so loved. Basically, most of the time, I want to bottle up this little individual, squeeze her cheeks, and gush (even though, as a rule, I. Do. Not. Gush. Period.)
The other percent of the time, it's as if some force has entered her that is completely inexplicable. She can go from 0-90 with no warning or obvious stimulant and completely. melt. down. She will exert her strong will and collapse in defeat when she is corrected.
As a parent, I'm left scouring my books, praying for patience, asking for guidance. What do you do? How do you curtail the behavior without crushing the spirit? I know and have read most of the answers to these questions, but you still stop and ask. Most of the time I have to stifle a laugh. Ignoring usually works best. Last night, I just threw my hands in the air as we were just "THAT family."
Man, I love that girl.
Here are some recent pictures of our latest summer adventure. We enjoyed a poolside evening at Richland with great company and great food. Of course, I forgot my camera, so these pictures are courtesy of Lindsay. (Sidenote: Right before dinner, someone "tossed their cookies" in the pool, so afterwards we enjoyed some sprinkler fun.)
1 comment:
How can anybody with pigtails that precious cause any sort of fuss?? :) Hang in there. They do eventually snap out of it. Unfortunately, when it's all over, YOU are the one left feeling a little bipolar!
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