I mentally prepared my self for the “terrible twos”. It’s all you hear about coming out of the bliss of an 18-month old who smiles and laughs and reminds you of why you had children.
But two came and went, and it was just as awesome as the “ones”. Little Mister was a late bloomer – he didn’t even take his first steps until he was 18 months old! – so he was as smiley and easy going as he was a year earlier.
And then…three.
Oh, for all things holy…THREE.
Why doesn’t anyone tell you about three? I feel they focus so much on the ‘terrible twos’ that they gloss right over three. I found out the nomenclature for three – the “threenager” – and oh, we were so good at being a threenager in this house.
Oh, the wonderfulness of the Threenager at dinner. (That’s homemade sauce and meatballs, y’all)
Tantrums? CHECK.
Potty training ignorance? CHECK.
Mastering the word “NO!”? CHECK.
Testing my every last patience and nerve? CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!
It was like a unknown force – let’s call it a demon for lack of a better term – took over our child’s body. Gone was our sweet, innocent, laughing, lovable boy.
In his place? The Threenager: with enough attitude to make a 15-year-old misunderstood girl blush.
Things that upset our Threenager included (but are in no way limited to):
• Short-sleeved shirts
• Four chicken nuggets instead of five in his dish
• Mondays
• When you tried to help him
• When you let him do things on his own
• When you asked what he wanted for dinner
• When he asked for something and we said ‘yes’
• When we wouldn’t let him eat candy for breakfast
• When he’d ask for pancakes and I’d make him pancakes
• When I’d cut his sandwich into squares and not triangles
• When we asked him to wash his hands (this still upsets him)
• When he wouldn’t get his way
• When he did get his way
Oh, and the list goes on.
A month ago, we hit the a big milestone: LM TURNED FOUR.
I didn’t want to be disillusioned. Would a switch be flipped? Would the Threenager be behind us forever?
Or, would it just go on? Terrible Twos, Threenager…what was next?
Any chance it’s the “Fantastic Fours” ???
Life of kk 
I can relate! The thing no one warns you about when it comes to three-year-olds is that they’re too smart for their own good! My daughter just turned four this month, so I’m still waiting to see what’s in store for us. But one of my best “reasons why my toddler is crying” moments from this past year was when she cried about the color of her bedroom! “Why did you pick gray, mommy? Did you think I was going to be a boy???” How do they even come up with this stuff?
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