The Flip Side

Every coin has two sides, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, every day has a night, and the list goes on and on and on. I looked over some of the past posts and realized that they all only tell half the story. I really don't think that most people want to hear the "bad" side of Alex and Ben, but I think I'd be at fault if I neglected to mention it at least once. I'm not looking for sympathy or advice or anything else. Mostly I'm just bored at the moment, putting off many things that I should be doing in favor of wasting time for your entertainment! Which means that today's topic is all about the temper tantrums. And it goes something like this...

Ninety-nine percent of our days start off with two happy boys. This lasts anywhere from 5 minutes to maybe half an hour, really just as long as it takes us to change diapers and do the few "upstairs" chores of our morning routine. Then we go downstairs, maybe the action of going down is symbolic. It seems that as soon as we set foot on that last step, happy goes out the window and isn't seen again for at least an hour. For whatever reason, Alex feels it necessary to be upset by EVERYTHING in the morning. Routine is not a factor, we can follow the exact same routine and he still falls apart. To make a long story longer, Alex generally ends up in time-out back up in his room at least 2 or 3 times during the course of breakfast. When breakfast is finally over he turns into mister happy and is usually pretty OK for the rest of the day. The really bad part is that EVERY single day starts off bad, which puts me in a very bad mood thinking about what I am going to have to put up with ALL DAY long. So, my very sole wish in the world right now is ONE single little morning of peace. I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon, but hey, I can always dream. I guess it's just part of the whole "terrible two's" process that kids go through, but I am really tired of it and as Alex is days away from being 3 I hope he is getting a bit closer to outgrowing this incredibly obnoxious stage. I love him dearly, but he sure is trying sometimes!

Ben is still little enough that he hasn't gotten onto that extreme emotional roller coaster yet. His fussing in the morning is simply his stomach talking. The sooner I get breakfast into him, the happier he is. He does have his moments though. He is a super grump when he is tired (guess he gets that from me) and man can he pitch a fit when you tell him no. He also likes to randomly lay down on the floor and cry for a minute, then he gets up, runs off and is fine.

Yes, I am sure that at some point I'll look back at this and shake my head, thinking they really weren't that bad. In all fairness, no they aren't that bad. I've been around plenty of other children who are far worse than my little A-man. Fortunately he keeps his really bad attitudes for home and is always a perfect angel out. Unfortunately, no one except mommy and daddy EVER see the "other" Alex.