Foot. In. Mouth.

Why did I think I should tell you that I had this parenting thing down?
The last few days have been rather difficult.

Maddox is refusing to eat.

I remember (pre- my child bearing days) when moms would call and would be just about in tears about this same subject...  the moms always had a similar story-- "he will not eat at meals, but then wants snacks all day..."
The answer was simple then:  cut back on snacks, he will eat if he is hungry and when he does snack, make sure he has healthy choices.

That is way easier said than done.

He had diarrhea yesterday, from pure lack of substance, I think-- and today he had hard poop, because all the kid wants to snack on is string cheese, yogurt and milk.
(And fruit snacks... but he is rationed to one package a day.)
And raisins... maybe I should push more of these-- to soften that stool a little.

I know his snacks are relatively healthy, but I want him to eat a meal.
An entire meal.

This morning I made him oatmeal, a piece of jellied toast and a 1/2 of a banana.
He ate the toast, with his daddy 'encouraging' every bite.
He maybe ate 1 bite of the oatmeal.  (It was even the cinnamon roll flavored, not-healthy kind)
And he didn't touch the banana.

He did, however, ask for a Scooby Doo yogurt 30 minutes after breakfast.
My nurse voice said, "NO!  --This is why he is doing this...."
But my mom voice said, "he has had 1 piece of toast, I'm sure he is hungry, yogurt is good for him."

I gave him a yogurt.


Maddox is pushing the boundaries... a lot.
And he knows it!
He puts himself in time-out sometimes...

As I type, I am attempting to ease-drop on the conversation between him and his dad going on in his room right now.
Night #3 of talking with Daddy.
I hear him saying, "yes sir" to his daddy, very sincere-like, as if he is really going to change.
Here's to wishful thinking!

This really rocks my world, because he seriously has not been better in public, than recently.
A perfect night at a restaurant with my sister.
An easy grocery shopping experience...
A fabulous time at the movies, while watching Tangled,
And excellent while Christmas shopping.

I would call him difficult or hard-headed or ornery rather than bad.
Until tonight.
He chooses to do what he wants to rather than what he is suppose to, and knows before he does it that he will face consequences.

Last night we decorated our Christmas tree

We watched Toy Story 3, wrapped presents, sipped hot cocoa, and had a fabulous night....
and then:

He decided to go through the clothes that Po just returned back to us...
Not bad... but definitely difficult.

Tonight, the report I got when I picked him up was BAD.

David called it "rare form"...
I call it really bad.

He threw a plastic fork at my mom...
He threw a plastic golf bay at their tv.

He then came back in and said he was done being ugly and was sorry.

I know the answer is he is two.
This is par for course.

But he is mature enough to have after-thought and apologize without being told to so, therefor I think he needs to act better than this.

I treat him older than he really is.  Most of the time he acts older than he really is.
Put him in a room of kids his age, and other people will immediately start talking about his maturity level.
With that said, people expect more from him.
As do I.

Though this stage probably seems more bad, rather than difficult as you read it...
He is sweet and compassionate double the times he is hard--
Like tonight:
He walked up to me, said, "I love you so much Mommy" and then kissed my nose.
He threw a football which hit me and he instantly cried because he thought he hurt the baby.
Or when he fell asleep in my arms, he kissed me on the cheek and whispered good night, with his baby eyes closed.

We have definitely had more difficult stages...
Still, I am ready for this persistent- ornery- stubborn- stage to pass.

I need to re-grasp my end of the rope.