Category: Thing 3

Thing 3

Dual Personalities

The Jekyll and Hyde behavior of Thing 3 continues.? We’ve already seen how he is a completely different person at preschool than he is at home.? And now we find out he’s the biggest story teller in the class.? Each day, during group time, the teacher asks a question and writes down each answer on a sheet for all the parents to see.? Usually the questions are “What is your favorite barn animal?” and Thing 3 will have a one word answer like “Duck!” (the exclamation is necessary because he really, really likes ducks).

On Monday, the question is “What did you do over the weekend?”.? Most kids have brief answers like “Played with my mom and dad”, “I drank milk”, or “We made cookies”.? Here is what Thing 3 recalled:

I played with toys and went to bed with Buzz. I got coffee and ice water and went to Chuck E Cheese. Buzz was in trouble and went to time out for taking a cookie. I’m going to watch Buzz tomorrow. I had an apple.

Here’s the interpretation: He carries his Buzz Lightyear doll with him everywhere. The coffee is a reference to trips with SuburbanMommy to the Caribou Coffee drive-thru which we do often on weekends when we need to strap him in one place for a while. I did take the 3 boys to Chuck E Cheese on Sunday. It’s a madhouse on a rainy day but necessary sometimes when there is nothing to do. It wasn’t Buzz who got the timeouts, but sometimes after Thing 3 gets a timeout, he recreates the moment by giving his Buzz doll a timeout. I don’t know anything about taking a cookie as a reason for the timeout. I’m sure the timeout was for hitting his brothers or spitting on the wall. Saying he will watch Buzz tomorrow is a given because we’ve watched Toy Story 1 and 2 a hundred times.

Who is this Child?

Let me give a summary of how just about every day with Thing 3 goes these days. He wakes up around 6:30am in a bad mood, crying for no particular reason until he has his cup of milk like a two-pack-a-day smoker has to have his first smoke.

It takes little to set him off on a tantrum and I can never predict what will set him off, but I can predict with near certainty there will be something that does. It could be the wrong color cup or cereal bowl. It could be the wrong show on tv. Or the wrong color shirt. Oh, I always ask which one he wants first but I now realize they are all the wrong ones. The tantrum is coming. And you can forget about even suggesting the “P” (potty) word to him or you’re in for a world of hurt.

At night, we have a similar ritual around bedtime. No matter what it’s always the wrong pajamas. Then he doesn’t want to brush his teeth or go to bed. So he bangs on the wall, throws books in his room, and his new favorite act of defiance spitting on the wall. This goes on for a good 30 minutes until we all exhaust ourselves.

I assumed the time in between these lovely bookends to my day went much the same. This is the time Thing 3 is at preschool. That is, until we got this note from his teacher:

Thing 3 “is such a delight to have in our classroom. He is very bright – sometimes silly and sometimes serious – a good combination. He is doing well at number recognition and we are practicing our letters. He now comes to us if he needs to go potty – sometimes it has already happened and sometimes we make it there on time!! He is very helpful in the classroom and a very caring, sharing young man!!”

Seriously, this is the same kid? Sure, I’ve seen glimpses of this model child but it’s completely surrounded by the crying, spitting, throwing, and terrorizing. I guess there is some reason for hope.

Playground Personalities

Our three boys are similar in many ways. All very active, in constant motion, and competitive with each other. But they also have developed very unique personalities and it’s fun observe. A recent trip to the playground is the perfect observation booth.

Playground Personalities

To Thing 1 everything is a game. He wanted to throw the ball or frisbee to count how many times we could catch it without dropping (he may have learned that one from me). When Thing 2 wouldn’t play his games anymore, it was how many times could he throw the ball through a spot on the jungle gym.

Thing 2 likes to socialize. After getting frustrated about losing to his older brother a few times, Thing 2 went over to where some others boys were playing. He introduced himself by climbing on a rock and declaring he is King of the Rocks! He is Mr. Imagination. Give Thing 2 a stick, a pair of swim goggles, and a rock and he is off in his play world for an hour.

At first, Thing 3 wants to do whatever his brothers are doing. “Throw it to me! Throw it to me!” A byproduct of being the youngest. But after that wears off, his own personality settles in. He discovers someone walking their dog and sets off in pursuit. He pets, pokes, hugs, and generally provokes the dog. He doesn’t want to leave the dog until he is suddenly distracted by a squirrel. “Look at that!” He chases the squirrel up a tree. Then he wanders after birds and butterflies and I watch him fill his hat with mulch. Thing 3 has a bright future as a park ranger.

Day of Reckoning Update

Sometimes it’s best to rip the band aid off quickly. ?There is a very brief amount of pain but then it’s over. ?That has been the case with getting Thing 3 to do major new things. ? It’s how we got him to move from his crib to a bed. ?No slow transition, just cold turkey.

That was going to be our approach to potty training him last week. ?We had the marathon training session on Sunday, then sent him to daycare in underwear on Monday. ?He had some accidents but generally sat on the potty willingly.

Then came Tuesday. ?He went into meltdown mode when the teachers tried to get him to go potty. ?He screamed. ?He fought. ?There were reports of poop on the floor, and something about him pooping on a teacher’s hand (not something for which I wanted to ask for clarification). ?So on the teacher’s recommendation, we pulled the plug on potty training for a while.

Yeah, ripping the band aid off quickly works sometimes. ?But other times, the bandage is stuck to the wound, and pulling it off opens it back up and it starts bleeding. ?Metaphorically speaking, that’s what we got this week.

Anyone have any great potty training ideas for Thing 3? ?Maybe ask one of the potty training experts. ?Oh, wait, that’s supposed to be me.

Day Of Reckoning

We knew this was coming. But that doesn’t make it any easier. We delayed as long as we could, knowing the difficult road that was ahead. Now, we can’t put it off any longer. It’s time to potty train Thing 3.

Most every transition has been tough with him. Like all three year olds, he is a creature of habit and routine. But Thing 3 takes routine to the extreme. His daily routines sometimes border on the bizarre. Every detail is important, from which episode of Diego to watch, which color cereal bowl he uses, who opens the car door, and on and on. It’s a delicate act that we have all but perfected.

Until a new milestone occurs that throws a wrench into his carefully scripted world. Moving from a crib to a bed was a big deal. New shoes? Watch out. New classroom at daycare? Forget about it.

And so, we have dreaded potty training. We’ve been casually introducing him but he’ll have none of it. Now with just one month to go before he moves up to preschool, where being potty trained is a requirement, we are forcing the issue.

Yesterday was 12 hours of potty training bootcamp. We threw away the diapers (or so he thinks) and I watched him like a hawk all day, and offered him bribes of candy to sit on the potty. I had to clean pee off the carpet more than once but cold turkey is the only way to go with him. It was marginally successful.

Today we sent him to daycare in underwear and with four extra changes of clothes. He came home wearing underwear but with a pull-up underneath. For him, that’s actually progress.? It’s going to be a long, long week.

And It Keeps Getting Weirder

We’ve seen some pretty weird behavior from Thing 3. From all the comfort objects he sleeps with, to putting stickers on his face, to sticking raisins up his nose. But somehow he still manages to top himself.

We’re officially in potty training with Thing 3. To say it’s been tough is an understatement, but there has been some progress lately. This potty scene should hardly be surprising given his history.

Yes, that’s a potty in the middle of the family room.? And of course he’s wearing a football helmet.? Doesn’t everyone?

We have been trying to get him to give up his diapers in favor of pull-ups for months. But he goes into a tantrum at the slightest mention of a pull-up.? So this weekend I asked him if he wanted to wear underwear.? To my surprise, he liked the idea.

He didn’t just like the idea of wearing underwear (which we let him do around the house).? He just really loves the underwear and it has now become another one of his odd comfort objects like the flashlights, my ratty old t-shirts, and his broken Buzz Lightyear toy.

He carries the underwear around.? He takes it to pre-school with him, keeps it in his cubby, then takes it back home.? Tonight, he wanted to sleep with the underwear.? Not wear them, mind you, but just next to him in his bed.? That is, until he decided he does want to wear them.? But I won’t let him do that because he’ll end up soaking wet during the night.

So he is now wearing the underwear on the outside of his pajamas with a diaper underneath.? As I said, it just keeps getting weirder.