Adventures in motherhood
By Staff
Rebecca James, Franklin County Times
Being a mother has been an interesting experience for me.
I have learned more in my three years as a mother than I have in my entire 27 years of existence. There have been many rewarding things that I have experienced, from Peyton's first words, to his first teetering steps, and here recently a few bad experiences, including the transformation of my sweet little boy into a little monster with a bad attitude.
My usually sweet and well-behaved three year old has a new favorite word that I am not too sure I like.
"No"
It seems like everything I ask Peyton lately has the response I am quickly learning to hate. Everything from "Peyton are you hungry?" to "You need to take a nap, Peyton" gives the same response:"No!" And most recently "I don't want to."
This is usually followed by "Peyton, don't tell Mommy no." And Peyton saying "Peyton's gonna have to take a time-out."
After his time out, my sweet little boy always returns, full of kisses and hugs for his mommy but this only lasts for a little while. That little while always gives me hope that my sweet little boy is still around, and that this is just a phase he is going through.
My husband, Brad, and I got really lucky with Peyton. He's a sweet child, and is usually so well behaved. He never did hit the "terrible twos" like most children do, but he sure is making up for it now that he's three. The fact that he is an only child, and we – and his grandparents – spoil him more than we should doesn't help matters. Maybe we are as much to blame as he is for this new turn of events.
Not only has Peyton really taken to the word "no," he's also taken to pitching fits when he doesn't get his way, and he only listens to about half of what I tell him. We have no choice but to punish him when he acts like this, but it seems that punishing him is only a temporary fix to the problem.
It's enough to make a mother want to pull her hair out. All I want to know is, what happened to my sweet little boy and how do I get him back?
