Thursday, April 14, 2011

Anybody Want a Three Year Old Girl?

Sure she's cute, with her sparkly blue eyes and platinum blond hair.  But don't be fooled.  She's a holy terror sometimes.

Take this morning for example.  She comes downstairs before 6 am all sleepy and groggy, and starts the day out by giving Phil a hug and sitting on his lap, telling him how much she loves him.  Sweet, right? 

Phil asks her to get dressed for school.  The sweetness ends.

But I don't want to get dressed first, I want to eat first. (Phil pours her a bowl of cereal)

I don't want that bowl, I want the ice cream bowl.  (It's in the dishwasher)

NOOOO, you gave me too much milk! (Phil dumps some of it down the sink)

Now I don't have ENOUGH milk! (Phil, exasperated, tells her to eat it anyway)

I can't eat because I need to go to the bathroom! (She strips down and heads to the bathroom)

Well now I'm naked so I want to get dressed!!

I can do it all by myself.

I NEED HELP!!  (Phil puts her tights on her, and offers to tie the back of her dress)

NO!  I don't want YOU to tie my dress, I want Mommy!

Phil leaves for work - I'm still in my bedroom next to the kitchen.  The door creaks open and slams shut (it's Maggie of course).

Thirty seconds later, the door opens again...this time it's Eamon who has come downstairs and is looking for food. 

Maggie yells at him - DON"T wake up Mommy!  No waking up Mommy!  Daddy said not to wake up Mommy!

Of course, I've been awake this whole time anyway, and I go into the kitchen where she continues to whine about the cereal, her milk, her hair, the lunch I am packing, the boys who looked at her, the boy who burped....it never ends.

Seriously, will it ever get better?  Is it because she's a girl?  In that case...bring on the boys!

13 comments:

  1. Augh, I totally understand! The 2s were fine - the limit testing is almost exciting, as they assert their independence and they learn so much so fast it makes my head spin.

    The 3s, however... One day I had a fun, challenging, independent Toddler. Suddenly, however, I have a 3-year-old girl for whom I was not at all prepared! Is she 3 or 15??? The ATTITUDE! ugh. The worst part is that her sister is just 17 months behind her, and mimics her every action and word. So now I have an attitude-filled 2 year old also, who's over-all demeanor is already more challenging.

    Well, I figure by looking at the older girls around that there must be hope. I give her LOTS of opportunities for her to fix her own problems (the cereal example does not happen anymore since I let her pour her own. Now she did it and she eats it.) and that helps a lot.

    So, eventually they grow out of it, right? Eventually our hard work will pay off and we will no longer be tempted to drop them at a convent door. Oh, and wait til the Baby is born - you will rediscover her nicer characteristics again. Those rotten 3-year-old girls DO make great big sisters ;-p

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  2. Oh, and besides, Maggie IS certainly cute. The sweet face makes up for it every time :)

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  3. i am laughing here. so funny! my
    3yr old girl is actually very quiet most of the time (the only she complains about is her shoes-they have to be just right or she will flip out--) but my neice who is around her age is EXACTLY like that. I do think its more of a girl thing since i have seen other girls like this too. my boys drive me crazy though since they bounce and jump nonstop on everything and scream.

    healthy is the primary thing but i think maggie needs a sister. i'm still hoping for pink 4 u.

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  4. So sorry that this made me laugh. :0
    She is a cutie and I am sure she will relax a bit as she gets older.
    My girls did not give me too much trouble...aside from Lo being on FULL SPEED from sunup to sundown. The girl has attitude...it will work out for her ONE day.
    xo

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  5. I'm sorry I am laughing, Colleen, but Maggie sounds like me when I am "in a mood" and poor Joe can't do anything right. Come on, ladies, 'fess up; we ARE like this, haha.

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  6. In our house, it's not the gender, it's the age. Three is where the wheels come off just a bit.

    Bun has started feeling the full effects of three lately and I am going nuts. One minute he is telling everyone he loves them, the next he is hurling cars down the payroom stairs, screaming at the top of his lungs. Good times, right? -- but the reward is four. Four is an awesome age. If he makes that long. ;)

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  7. Yes, yes, yes! I'll take her! :) Boy what a ruckus these two would cause...different problems, same attitude!

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  8. I had a really hard time with my daughter when she was 3. This two shall pass! Perhaps she just needs a little sister to play with!

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  9. i don't beleive her... honestly i don't ... but my mom swears my brother much MUCH MUCH easier to raise than my sister and i!!!

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  10. I'll take a boy...oh I already have 3..still I will take more! Nerf gun fights and light saber duels...bring it on. I can handle that.

    3 yr old spunky little girls...I do not stand a chance!

    She will grow up and out of this.

    Hang in there.

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  11. It is the age. My middle child is almost three and he is getting to be the same way. I like the loving moments, but the constant mood switching drives me bonkers! I am hopeful he will grow out of it soon!

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  12. She won't grow out of it for a long time.

    She's a girl.

    I have 4 of them, I know these things.

    I also have a 4 year old for sale.

    Just kidding. I love her to death.
    My 8 year old is worse than all of them put together though. So...see? It doesn't end and it is girls.

    And God is making you so much wiser and so much more patient, isn't He?

    I tell myself this.
    I also tell myself He is laughing at me, He thinks it's funny too.



    My son? None of this stuff happens. He's all about Star Wars and Legos.

    We did figure out recently that for some reason counting for our 4 year old works, she wants to know how high you are going to count though, because she wants to wait til you get to that last number to move it. Like "one, two...three!"

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  13. Yes, Colleen, this sounds exactly like my Sophie. It's kind of comforting to know its just a stage and she'll probably grow out of it.... Until we hit puberty!

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