Stages

My sent went through a really rough patch for about six weeks, where everything made him angry. Everything became an argument. He got very physical by hitting or nudging me with his head when he didn't get his way. It was becoming very overwhelming and exhausting.

I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong or what to do about it, because nothing was working. Thankfully I had some mommy friends, who had kids at the same age, who said that their little 'used to be angels' were also displaying the same type of behavior. Then my sister's boyfriend reassured me that his son, at four, had all the same issues. This gave me a huge sense of relief. I exhaled and felt normal. Okay...maybe it wasn't my doing something wrong that was causing the behavior?!

In the last six weeks, I've just stuck to my guns without giving in. I let my yes mean yes, and my no mean NO. Either the phase has played itself out or he finally got the idea that his testing his boundaries was getting him nowhere but a lot of time outs. Thankfully, I can say with some ease that ITS OVER! He's back to his old self and I'm so happy to see him back from the terrible trials of being four!

We've been reading a lot of books, since he's picking up more words in his vocabulary. He's been reading pretty well. A couple of nights ago, we read Jungle Book. At the end, where Mowgli means the young girl and the man-village, I looked at my son's face as I read the last few sentences. He was smiling so sweetly at that little girl's face in the book.

I had to know what he was thinking so I asked him. He explained that Mowgli thought the little girl was so pretty and that's why he smiled at her. I asked what made her pretty, and he said it was her dress and her earrings. ( I rarely wear dresses--if ever) I said, "Mommy doesn't wear dresses. So, is that what makes girls pretty?"

He looked up and smiled that same sweet smile at me and said, "Oh no mom, you're pretty just the way you are." He knows just what to say to a woman.