Diary of a Fuss Survivor

It seems unlikely that my children will outgrow their tantrums, tears, and whining anytime soon, so I’ve decided to try to generate some coping strategies that are perhaps more constructive than 1pm glasses of wine and elaborate fantasies involving me on an island with a 20-something sex god.

I’ve tried various methods of dealing with the continued fussiness of my (now) 4 1/2 year old twin girls, including trying to set firm limits, reasoning with them, putting them in time-out, reading about their development so I’m more empathetic and understanding of their plight, ignoring bad behavior & etc. Like a crash dieter strung out on too few calories, I feel shaky and empty from all the seemingly fruitless effort. As they’ve gotten older (out of the horrid 3’s), they’ve gotten less loud in the screeching and crying department, but I confess to feeling tired of the whole mess of emotional upheaval that seems to accompany raising young children (girls?).

I find myself wishing for time to simply pass so that they can reach some sort of age of rationality and reason. Or at least reach an age where tantrums in front of their peers would be so embarrassing they’d stop.

People often say things like “when your kids are older you’ll miss how adorable they are when they’re small,” but I’ve noticed that these are almost always people with kids either grown or of an age where the 0 – 5 year olds seem adorable and cuddly, like a distant dream.

Truthfully, when they’re being cute and precocious and sweet and saying things like “momma, will you help me brush my teeefff?” and I think about Kindergarten next year, I do get sentimental. But then someone throws a fit in the next room about her block being stolen by the baby and I’m immediately brought back to reality with a clunk.

I know someday I might miss the yelling, and the chaos, and the hell-hole dirty house.

Until then… I guess it’s me and that sweet yard boy on the island.

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