The Joys of Teething . . .

  So we are back on the teething train again with Quade. And it's in full force. Quade is now getting his bottom two molars. Same as last time, except I know why he's fussy this time around. He has only been eating breakfast and maybe some sort of fruit or crackers during the evening. I'm sure you know how hard that is for me because I like my kids to eat, eat, eat. But I'm trying to be laid back and patient  about it. It is better knowing why he's acting like this, but holy smokes is it draining. And embarrassing at times too. I'm not one to throw excuses out for my kids if they are acting bad, but I try and slip it in there that he's teething so he's very sensitive;) All he has left are those 4 damn eye teeth. The worst ones! I hope he gets them all at once or maybe he is working on them now with his molars (I'm crossing my fingers). I know, I know, I'm such a whiner about this teething thing. But it's such a snowball effect with the whole family. Quade is extremely cranky for an extended period of time (we're talking weeks), which makes me tired and cranky, which in turn makes me short and impatient with Austyn. So by the time Jordan gets home (this could be days) we are all at each other's throats. 

  And coincidence or not, Austyn has been going through this not listening and "see what I can get away with stage". For her this is very uncharacteristic. She even got two time-outs at school:( I try and remember she is only 3. But I feel like that is a direct reflection on parenting when kids act up at school. So I took it very personal. This is the first undesirable stage Austyn has gone through and I'm trying to figure out a way to get through to her. I'll be honest here and admit that it's hard for me to 100% carry through on a punishment because I can't bear to have her feelings hurt. I am able to do about 80%. So I will put her behavior on my shoulders this time because I have slacked on my end. In my defense she has never really needed repeated discipline for anything, so I was just going along how we usually do instead of curbing it from the start. But now, I have to make up for it and she is the one going to pay for it. It breaks my heart, but if I let it get too out of control it will go south in a hurry.  

  I will tell you I do know how petty my parents dilemmas are and I'm am thankful that this is all I have to worry about. I know Quade will be back to his normal easy peasy self in a week or two, and Austyn will grow out of this stage quickly as well. I do have the worlds best two kids. But it's hard for me to switch from Austyn being my best little buddy to being the Mom and putting my foot down. It's so much more fun being friends and having fun than being the mean mommy who has to set rules and inforce them and the consequences that follow. Thankfully we don't have to deal with this much.