Charlie, who has always been a little late with everything (he didn’t start walking until he was 18 months old), has decided to come into his terrible-two’s now. As I type this blog entry, he is throwing balls out of his ball pit at his sister. I feel like I have to constantly stay on top of him. So far, I have found that taking away the play-doh and Legos are most effective, along with telling him that he can’t watch Caillou or Bob the Builder (Thank goodness he no longer likes The Wiggles-how annoying is that show?). He also really hates being in time out, so I just have to mention it and he straightens up. Of course, there is the occasional spanking. I have decided not to overuse that form of punishment and save it for the most dire crimes that could result in death or injury. Several mothers and gandmothers told me that if I can just hang in there until he turns 4 he will be okay, and I am hanging onto that hope with every shred of my being!
While he has his bad moments, Charlie also has so many good, sweet moments. A couple of weeks ago he wouldn’t share a toy with a friend who was visiting our house. I told him that he needed to be nice and share his toys, that God wants us to be nice and kind to people. He said, through his tears, “God is wrong.” I had trouble keeping a straight face as I told him that God is never wrong.
The day before yesterday he asked me where Heaven is. I explained to him that Heaven is in the sky, so far away that we can’t see it, but that even though God is far away he still sees and hears everything that we say and do. At the time we were sitting at the kitchen table and I had the laundry room door open, so the washer and dryer were loud. Charlie said “God can’t hear us because of the dryer.” The boy cracks me up.
One thing I have discovered about children: They can bring you to your highest of highs and your lowest of lows.
Here’s a picture of Charlie and Maddie on Maddie’s first birthday. The question is this: Is he hugging her, or strangling her?
OH I love it. The picture and your question at the end were perfect.
Thank you!