Trying Threes or Threenager – Either Way, it’s Exhausting

Before you become a parent, you always hear about the “terrible twos”. This, my friends, is *nothing* compared to what comes next.

I have been blessed with two ridiculously adorable little boys. One is almost one and the other is in the throws of his threenager year. When we were planning out our family, we thought a three year gap made sense. We would get out of the terrible twos and have a close (but not too close) gap between the kids. Then, the baby came. Right before W hit three.

Some days, being a mom of a precocious three year old is a blast. We get to have mature conversations (he has the vocabulary of a 10 year old) and play games, and he is extremely helpful with his little brother. Other days, I want to curl up in a ball and hibernate after a good cry (and a bottle of wine). Yesterday and today were the latter.

I bet you didn’t know that kids can be suspended from daycare. They can.

I am currently caring for a daycare felon. What this entails is getting a phone call from school saying, “Can you please come pick up your child because he is acting crazy and we can’t control him.” Then, you get to walk out carrying your crazy child, your infant and your laminated “Family of the Month” poster (which ironically came down the same day as your child’s suspension), while trying to hold your head high and act like your kid didn’t just get a preschool record. The next step is texting your boss to tell her that you will need to work from home tomorrow since your kid isn’t allowed back to school the next day… So, how was your Wednesday?

Today was only slightly better. I had to work while also trying to care for an emotional disaster of a three year old. His mood swings were worse than mine in the middle of puberty! One minute he was my sweet angel and the next, he had tears streaming down his face and was upset at the world. No wonder this age is dubbed the “threenager” stage (or as my mom calls it — which is apparently what they called it in the 80s — the “trying threes”). I do think it should be called the “trying not to go crazy on (because of?) your threenager” stage, but I guess that’s too long.

Anyway, I feel like all moms who make it through this stage should receive a gold star and a nap. All I have to say is at least my kid is cute. 😉