See saw

Sometimes I feel like parenting is like a see saw (or teeter totter...whatever you call it.) Give and take. Up and down. Good and bad.

Last weekend, Sasha was battling a major cold. She wasn't sleeping well at night, but she was tired as a dog and actually wanted to lay in bed. Wanted to go to sleep.

One side up, one side down.

Now, she's beat the cold, feeling much better and doesn't want to go to sleep. She's so passionate about not wanting to go to bed, in fact, that she has begun throwing major fits before bedtime. (Connor has, too, but that's for a different post.)

Other side up, other side down.

Tonight she threw one of those fits. For an hour.

While Kim was golfing.

And it was bath night.

I am not kidding when I say I totally expected one of my neighbors to call the sheriff, suspecting child abuse. She was SCREAMING!!!

She didn't want to come in the house. Didn't want to go upstairs. Didn't want to get undressed. And didn't want to get in the tub.

When I put her in the tub, she acted like I had put her in a vat of acid. Of course, the windows in the bathroom were wide open.

When I attempted to wash her, she began hitting me. And Sasha never hits, so this shows you how out of control she was.

Out of the tub she went. And, of course, now she didn't want to get out. She wanted to stay in the tub.

*sigh*

I won't go into the rest of the evening. Let's just say it ended up with her not getting a bedtime story or her teeth brushed (she wouldn't let me do it).

I wish I understood Toddler.

The other day, I was thinking that mothers everywhere have been dealing with this for centuries. The temper tantrums. The fits. The screaming. And the thought of 'What in the world can I do to get through to this child?'.

Sure, technology and society has changed over the years. But I think when it comes down to it, toddlers are toddlers. They are their own being. I can pretty much bet that some mom in 1892 dealt with her nearly three year old not wanting to go to bed.

And you know what? I'm also going to guess that she survived it. And so have all the other mothers out there, year after year after year.

And so will I.