Meltdown mania

So.....I should have listened to Kaelyn when with all seriousness in her 2 year old voice she told me she didn't want to go to the dentist. Epic disaster! I will get to that in second. First I feel I should start off by saying I LOVE BEING A PARENT! I felt that I should add that as a disclaimer of some sort in case Kaelyn is able to read these posts one day. Mommy loves you pumpkin but sometimes you make me wanna scream! There...moving on.

I just started reading this book on my Kindle (thanks babe for the Christmas present!) Ketchup Is A Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves.http://www.amazon.com/Ketchup-Vegetable-Other-Lies-Themselves/dp/0984716521/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1330540855&sr=1-1-catcorr
It was a free Kindle download one day I saw on a coupon blog I follow and since I LOVE free I decided to download it and thank goodness I did! The book is a bunch of journal entries from a mother of 3 girls. So far she seems to have a great sense of humor about all the embarrassing things that happen to you when you become a parent. For example, how your thought process was BEFORE you had kids. Thinking, I will never be that mom that says "Because I said so" or wears sweats to the grocery store, or has "those" kids that make a scene in public. I am going to love my kids so much that they will be angels all the time. I have to admit, I thought the same way about some of those things. Because if you love your kids and do your best to show them how to act properly  they wouldn't have any reason to act out right? WRONG! Kids are kids and many parents have told me that between the ages of 2-4 is when you start to feel broken and defeated at times as a parent. Maybe it's my hormones from being pregnant and still adjusting to being home all the time, but I am starting to see what these other parents are talking about. I have to say it again, I absolutely love my child and even though she is testing me up the wazoo lately, deep down inside somewhere I am laughing because she defiantly got my stubbornness. When I try and tell Aaron about what she says or does during the day (when its not good) he says "man, that sucks. She isn't that way with me." I love you too babe (add to disclaimer) but I really want to scream when I hear that even though I know you mean nothing by it. Of course she won't be like that with you, you have been working all day and by the time you get home I'm sure she is down right sick of me and is ecstatic to see you! So here is a sample of some of her stellar behavior this week.

I was craving avocados like mad the other day, and since there is no getting in the way of what a prego wants Kaelyn and I ventured to the store on a whim. She was already in a bad mood but I was just going to be in and out. HUGE MISTAKE. Two minutes into our trip to Trader Joe's the screaming started. Other kids were trying to be nice and say hi to her and she would frown at them. I decided to give her my phone so she could play a puzzle. Crisis diverted-That is until I needed my phone for a quick second to call Aaron. Here is where the real meltdown begins. All of the sudden I had "that kid" in the store. That kid that before I was a parent I was convinced wasn't possible for me to have. That kid that makes everyone stare at you and even though we were in the back of the store i'm sure people checking out up front were loading up their reusable shopping bags thinking man...someone's kid ain't happy. At this point between the spitting and kicking I would have skipped the damn avocados and few other things I needed and got a bag of wine instead. Since that isn't an option we had to get our crap and hightail it outta there. I am in tears the entire way home because A.) I am mortified and B.) I am one hormonal woman these days. As soon as we get home and she sees her dad everything is all good. Eff that girl, I need an apology, stat. Which I am still waiting for and i'm sure it won't be the last time! That meltdown was enough for me to handle this week, but oh no, we had the dentist 2 days later........

This was Kaelyn's first dental appt. Now I know some kids go way earlier but her Dr said unless we felt we needed to take her before for some reason taking her when she was 2 is what he would recommend. I started talking to her about the dentist last week hoping to get her excited about it. I even let her carry her toothbrush to the dentist so she would understand where we were going. I thought I was on top of it and the meltdown wouldn't happen because I prepped her for the visit. We show up for her appt and there is nothing on the books for us until the following week. Now I know for a fact that the receptionist said Feb 29th and not March 7th. I may lack tons of brain cells these days but I know there is a huge difference in the way February and March sound. Thank goodness they had a cancellation and we were able to be seen right away. The 5 minutes in the waiting room were enough for me. Kaelyn was being fine, but it was the R&B slow jams from high school that were playing overhead that made me wanna run right out of there. So her consultation begins and she seems to be fine. Then the dentist comes in and the real fun starts. Now Kaelyn hates going to the Dr until the appt is over and he is walking out of the room. Then she gets friendly and says "Thank you much, see ya, bye bye!" So I could only imagine how some man poking at her teeth would go. This dentist seemed to be a nice enough guy but when he came in he was using this incredibly annoying high pitched baby talk to Kaelyn and she was just staring at him like he was a mutant alien. He would then talk to me with the same voice and can't even tell you what he was saying, I just know that I wanted to scream...Just get it over with already!!! Talk to her like an adult. Pin her down, look in her mouth and let us get outta here!!! She actually did a little better than imagined. Sure she screamed the entire time and had crocodile tears but she didn't bite him! And of course, in her usual fashion once the appt was over she ended it with "Thank you much, see ya, bye bye." as she is walking out of the room on her own, not even looking to see if I am following her. For some reason the tears began again in the elevator on the way to the car. When we got to the car I had to set her down to get my keys. 2 seconds tops is what that would take. Well, she decided to run. So I capture her and she does that awesome thing that kids do where they act like their legs give out so you basically have to drag them. The ground was soaked so that wasn't gonna happen. I get her to stand up and once I let go she plots her revenge. There was a HUGE puddle next to my car. No joke my angel decided to throw herself into it. Now i'm not talking just stomping in it. She threw herself onto the ground into the puddle!!! Are you kidding me?! At this time another family walked out the door and I am sure I was dubbed Parent of the year in their eyes. I couldn't get home fast enough.

The book I am reading also talks about how impossible it is for people that don't have kids to understand that having them is a constant job, like more that 24/7 even though that's actaully not possible I get what she was saying. Some days a 10 minute meltdown can ruin you as a parent for the rest of the day. I am not saying that person is me all of the time,but the experience I had at Trader Joe's did ruin me mentally for the rest of the day. Luckily, most days Kaelyn is in a great mood. She laughs all the time and says I love you constantly. I know this is just a phase that most kids go through. Even though it is driving me nuts now, I know it will make for great stories when she is older!!! So Kaelyn, if you ever read this just know that I couldn't be happier to be your mom. When you have kids one day (Which may not happen because Aaron said she is never allowed to date.) and you come to me when they hit this stage, don't get mad if I just laugh hysterically for a minute before I tell you that this too shall pass.