The Good, Bad and Ugly

I am still trying to catch up on December posts but I had to enter this "event" from  yesterday.

Ava has been experiencing the "terrible 3's" as they say in toddler-hood.  Since Ava is our second child, I can now attest and confirm that the terrible "3's" are so much worse than "2's"!  Ava will be turning 3 this weekend but she has been suffering from this late toddler disease known as the "tantrums" for a few weeks now. 

I've discovered something about our precious Princess...she has a shriek that measures off the richter scale.  Sebastian did have tantrums but nothing like his baby sister's.  I also know that boy tantrums are so different than girl tantrums.  Sebastian would scream and cry for a short period and then just pout.  Ava has these marathon screams that can last 20 minutes!

Not only does Ava have the call of the wild but she also is Jekyl and Hyde.  Especially around her Daddy and Mommy.  Lately, Daddy will wake up with her in the morning, get her dressed and take her downstairs to do the morning routines.  She will play with her toys, watch t.v. , play with Marley or be her brother's shadow.  Often times, the three of them will wait downstairs for Mommy and then we all have breakfast together.  The house is peaceful and Mommy gets a few more minutes of zzzzzzzz's.  But as soon as I go down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab the first morning coffee, that's when all the whining and screaming begin.  I'm also not allowed to leave the room and Ava shadows me everywhere in the house. 

I asked Michael if it was just my imagination or did both kids react the same way at 2-3 years of age?  He said it was not my imagination.  The kids definitely "act" differently in front of each parent.   Daddy has a bigger and stronger presence so the kids act calmer around him.  Mommy is short and her voice goes up whenever she wants to make a point.  Sebastian has even admitted when he was four, that he thought Daddy was bigger and he was scared of him. 

So I've learned to accept the fact that our kids have different needs and expectation from us.  But lately, it had been getting on my last nerve.  Yesterday was a good example of how children will drive their parents to drink!  I will paint the scenarios below and caption the pictures with "GOOD, BAD and UGLY" so you will know exactly how my morning went.

THE GOOD

Ava woke all smiley and giggly.  She wanted to brush her own teeth which I sometimes oblige even though she makes a huge mess.  The rest of the morning routine went without a hitch. 

THE BAD
Sebastian got his coat on and headed out the door to go to the bus stop.  Ava and I followed in the car.  We waited for the bus and then I drove off to take Ava to the daycare.  We have been doing this routine for the past three days.  But for some reason, Thursday had to go differently and it had go her "way".
 

























She wanted to SEE Sebastian get on the bus but since I pulled away before the bus stopped and the children got on, she wanted me to go back so she could see the bus and the kids again.  I told her it was too late and that Sebastian was already on the bus and the bus left. 

The bad part is Ava has this "on/off" switch that goes off at any given moment.  Lately, the switch has had a VERY short fuse and it seems to go off all the time!

THE UGLY

I post mostly happy and funny stories and pictures on my blog but the ugly "truth" is sometimes life is not all peaches and cream.  As soon as I drove down our street, that's when all the hysteria began.  I usually turn up the radio volume to drown out the background noise but this time I turned down the radio and had to record infamous temper tantrum for the world to see.  By the way, this tantrum went on all the way to the daycare's front doorstep (20 minutes).  I didn't get to video tape Ava through the glass window as I was leaving the daycare.  I figured this video said it all.

The video below is titled "Ava's Theatrical Trailer"...you'll see why!

(Note:  observe the flying shoes in the video.  Not just one, but two)

p.s.  A stunt double was not used in the making of this video.

If I survive parenthood, I should at least receive an Oscar for "Best Supporting Mom"....right???