Not really.
Well...
All kids have those days. You know, the ones where you wonder if somehow your child is the spawn of Satan? Okay, so my clients aren't quite that bad, but Client One definitely has her moments. Like all of yesterday and part of this morning.
The day started out fine. We snuggled in the bed in the nursery for a few minutes, none of us ready to commit to waking up fully. Then Client Two peed on the bed and forced us into action. Client One chose cereal for breakfast and wanted to watch Frozen while she ate it. Not a problem, but the rule is that cereal with milk has to be eaten at the coffee table. She knows this. She even asked if she could eat it on the couch and was denied. I go into the kitchen to get my own cereal and I hear, "Mommy, Mommy! I spilled my cereal!" And where was it spilled? On the couch.
But that was just the start of a very long day.
She didn't listen to much of anything I told her to do (or not to do). From sneaking cupcakes and cupcake batter to painting on the table, the day became one disobedient disaster after another. She ended up spending a good chunk of the day in time out. Finally, nap time came. It was even a self-diagnosed nap time. (She was refusing to eat the lunch she picked out and decided, after an hour of not eating, that she wanted to take her nap to avoid finishing her food, even though it was thirty minutes earlier than usual.) I figured this was my reward for not going completely crazy, so I let her go off to bed. She was perfectly quiet for a little over an hour, so I figured the nap took. Wrong. She comes prancing out and declares that nap is over. I, however, was not fooled. The stuffed animals arranged playfully on the floor backed up the suspicion that she has been playing, so I marched her back into her room for a real nap. After a little less than an hour of more silence, she came out again. I gave up.
The afternoon was no better, maybe even worse, due to the fact that I was now dealing with a sleepy toddler. Everything was a struggle. Everything was a fight. She would do just about the opposite of anything I told her to do. I was going crazy. Then, my husband got home. Sometimes, she'll behave better for him than me and vice versa, but we weren't getting off that easy. By the time bedtime came around, we were both pulling our hair out.
Now, she's not evil every day. Some days she's downright helpful. Even between her devilish moments today she would give me unasked for hugs and kisses. She even volunteered to throw away the dirty diapers. I mean, she's not all bad, but to be honest, at the end of the day it's hard to remember those nice moments. And honestly, overall, she's a good kid, the kind of kid you're proud of. She's the kid that automatically thanks people and says, "please" for things. She's very polite and gentle. She's also very sweet and friendly. But she's a toddler and she has her days.
Lucky for us, Client Two is very low maintenance. He just laid back and watched everything unfold. Let's hope he stays that way.
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