"God never gives you a problem bigger then you can handle."
We've all heard that one before right? If this was true though, why for the last month have I felt like strangling my son the next time he says 'no' to anything? Aiden has decided that his new favorite word/sentence is "No, I dont want to Mommy". To absolutely everything. From brushing his teeth to what he's going to wear that day. He's also decided to push every button known to piss off parents, from pretending to not hear us when we are talking to him to the obnoxious boneless hissy fits thrown over trivial things, just to see if he can push a boundary. This is a fun stage. This started about three weeks ago, and let me tell you, its been the hardest time of his young life for me and his dad. However, I think I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this stage of child development after an intervention staged by my mother.
It was last sunday. Aiden hadn't wanted to go play in the nursery with the other small children, so we sat together in the worship service. My mom was sitting in the pew in front of us. About half way through the service, Aiden decided he wanted to sit with grandma. However, within three minutes of him sitting with grandma, he had managed to wiggle off the pew next to her, and commenced attempting to army crawl down the sanctuary under the pews. I grabbed his foot and pulled him out to a whining chorus of "No Mommy, NO, NO, NO!!!" I was shushing him as he was screeching while I was hustling him out of the sanctuary so the rest of the congregation could hear the pastor without feedback in their hearing aids (the average age for my church is 65). It then took him 20 minutes to sit in a three minute time out. Then, after he calmed down and we had a talk about how he needs to listen to mommy and not go spelunking during the service Aiden did the worst (and looking back, the funniest) thing he could possibly do. After repeated "Aiden don't touch the sound board honey", he waited until my back was turned and cranked the volume and feedback on the soundboard waaayyyy up. It was like nails on a chalkboard mixed with a bomb scare siren at the same decibel which breaks glass. And I don't know how to work the soundboard, so it took a few agonizing seconds to figure out which tiny little slide needs to move to reinstate blessed sanity.
I don't think I have ever seen Aiden move as fast as when he shot off the stool with his hands pressed against his ears. He was terrified. At least this time his curiosity didn't get him hurt.
And the day went on; me telling him not to do something, him doing it, and then the timeout battle. By the time bedtime rolled around we were both exhausted and frustrated. After Aiden finally fell asleep I flopped on the couch with my mom. And the intervention began. I started to complain how Aiden doesn't listen to me. She said, "Ash, he's three, not six." Then I expanded, dramatically adding, "about ANYTHING mom!" She said, "Pick your Battles." I stopped because I just got the proverbial sledgehammer to the back of the head because I had my eyes too tightly shut to see the lightbulb. What mom was saying was the important issues, like listening when I say,"Don't go out in the street", was far more important then him putting a coat on the exact minute I told him to. Pick your battles, and enforce a boundary when one needs to be enforced. It will make life so much quieter. So, starting yesterday, thats what I did. And you know what, its been really nice to be around Aiden. I only needed to use the mommy voice once. The last 48 hours have been wonderful. He hasn't been argumentative, and there have been no timeout battles.
As so 'old fashioned' as I thought my mom was, having a child just keeps bringing to light that my mom is one smart cookie. She's the go to person for late night fevers (motrin, water and cuddling), how to get sticker stains out of shirts (check the shirt before it goes in the washer) and dealing with the infamous 'terrible two/threes'( patience and prayer). My mom has been a saving grace and a really big reason why Aiden is as healthy and well adjusted and happy as he is.
My mom rocks, and she's pretty smart too.
