3...a LOT worse than 2

Well as the saying goes..."Be prepared for the terrible 2's!" Well in my house...I beg to differ with anyone who tries to challenge me on that statement! Three is a LOT worse than two! There is a lot of whining, fighting, talking back, not listening...and oh the list goes on and on! Some days are much better than others, but there are some days I want to sit in a corner in the fetal position - suck my thumb and rock back and forth! Don't get me wrong - not every day is bad, some days are so fun and the kids are learning so much...but for every GREAT day...there are 3 bad ones (especially with our little Matthew - he's the biggest culprit!)

For example.....

Matthew and Ari were fighting over a toy last week and he decided to hit her with it! Ari had such a "shiner"! Every where we went, everyone said: OMG what happened to your eye? Ari's response: Ratthew hit me with his truck!





He's been having a hard time listening as well! Saturday I took the kids to Lynn's graduation and as we were leaving I told them to hold my hand. As we crossed the busy street and got to the passenger side of the car (because we were parked on a BUSY street), Matthew let go of my hand and went running around the front of the car and almost got it! Mommy saw his life flash before her eyes! He asked me why I was crying and I told him that he made Mommy really scared and he needs to listen!

I snagged this photo of him the other day - He was with Ari and a friend from school. He was so crazy hyper he was jumping in her face!



I did some research online yesterday and we are going to try "Behavior" charts with him since the time-outs don't seem to work! I made one for Ari too, because I knew she'd feel left out. Basically - I have 6 things he needs to do every day, including: Listening, Pick up Toys, Brush Teeth, Get Dressed, Share and Nice Talk/Nice Hands. Every few hours we will evaluate his behavior and he will then receive a "Behavior Buck" if he is really good (which he already earned one this a.m. because he got up, ate, got dressed, shoes on, etc. without being asked!) Once he has a few bucks, he can trade them in for an extra 1/2 hour of TV, an ice cream, or when he gets a lot of "bucks" he can trade them in for a toy. I'm hoping this will help!



Granted - it's not all bad either! He's still the first to come over and give you a big hug, tell you he loves you or make you laugh! We were sitting at the dinner table the other night and he said: Mommy and Daddy listen....M A T T H E W! That spells Matthew! David and I looked at each other and were shocked! Then Ari says:
A R I A N N A! They did it without any paper in front of them - and just thought about it and spelled their name!

Ari has been pretty good with her listening and her behavior...however...she's the little diva! She loves wearing dresses, picking out her own outfits and pretending to be a princess! She is truly a girlie girl! She told me this morning that with her "behavior bucks" she wants a necklace, bracelet, headband and tiara! She is very smart and VERY witty! She can come out with a come-back faster than I can think of something to say! And the stuff she says...OMG hysterical! She is my mini-me! If I have a dress or skirt on for work...she has to wear a dress or skirt. If I have high heels on, she has to get her high heel pretend shoes. We had a yard sale last week and our neighbor was getting rid of these shoes...Ari went right over and put on the shoes!



This summer they have a new schedule. I have hired one of my student workers to watch the kids on Mondays & Friday's - Joyce and Mike have them Tuesdays and they are in school Wednesday & Thursday. There is a lot of shuffling around during the week, but we are trying to get the kids on the same schedule so it's pretty routine! I've found that the kids excel when they have a schedule to follow - they've been like that since they were infants!

The kids are getting excited for our big road trip this summer! We are driving to Nebraska to see Nana and Papa and for them to meet the rest of my family. They keep talking about how Nana and Papa fly on an airplane to come see us - but we're trying to explain that we are driving...that it will be a LONG drive...but we do have plans along the way. David and I have friends in Ohio that we met on our honeymoon - they have 2 little girls and we plan on seeing them on our "adventure" and one of my high school teachers lives in Iowa - so we may stop and say hello on the way there or the way back. We will be celebrating Papa's 60th birthday while we are there! I've already started my "Packing List" so I'm prepared when the time comes! We'll be heading out July 13th and will be coming back the last week in July. On the route there we are going North towards Buffalo then over...but the way home - I want to go South...here's hoping we make it without strapping the kids to the roof!