For those of you out there yet to experience the joys and not so joyous moments of parenthood, I'd like to quickly debunk a very popular myth for you. It isn't age 2 you need to worry about. The "terrible two's" are, to put it quite simply, a bunch of muck. Obviously the people who started perpetuating that myth either, A) had no grasp of child development, B) had nannies, C) gave their children away before they turned 3, or D) employed the Darwinian theory of "Survival of the Fittest" and obviously their children did not make the cut.
Ask any parent who is with their child all day and they will tell you. It is age 3 you need to afraid of. And I do mean afraid. Something happens right around the end of their 3rd year of life (usually around 33-34 months of age) - it is like a switch kicks on in their little developing brains - which makes them realize that not only are they their own autonomous human beings (which is where the "no" phase comes from in the 2's, understandably), but that they can do things over which we as parents have no control. The idea of "Parental Control" (and I use those quotes quite purposefully) is also, sadly, a myth, about which they are suddenly and quite painfully (for us parents) aware. Having a 3-year-old is like having a little poltergeist living with you. And as with poltergeists, so with 3-year-olds... some are playful and mischievous, but overall harmless and some... well. Let us just say that if your infant gives you cause for worry at this stage, I feel for you.
I have had 3 such experiences with age 3. "Good baby" and "easy" are not words applied to my children. I adopted the motto, "There is no such thing as a "bad" baby - just easy temperaments and not so easy temperaments" early on in my parenting adventure. (And let me debunk one more parenting myth for you right now. Temperament is luck of the draw. An "easy" baby is no more a reflection of your good parenting than a "difficult" baby is a reflection of it. If you look at your child now and think "I must be such a good parent, just look at my child!" I assure you this is not the case. Because at some point, no matter how good you are as a parent, your child will do *something* that will knock you off your high-horse. Better to start humble and stay humble. If not, your humbling will be all the more painful when it does happen. And it will, of that I am sure.)
I was blessed with 3 people who knew their minds from the moment they were born. They were also born with an uncanny ability to communicate their thoughts to me in no uncertain terms. I went through hell and back with my eldest (I'm holding my breath for the next trip, but for right now things are pretty good...) and experienced almost every parenting challenge you can imagine. You know, the kind that sends parents running in droves to the bookstore to read 1 of the thousands of books written about what in the world they must have done wrong along the way. It was those experiences with my eldest that felled me where I stood and humbled me in a way that I wish upon no parent. The words, "my child will *never* do that" will never, ever again cross my lips because as sure as they are released, my children *will* do it.
My daughter was "easy" by comparison (just don't compare her to other peoples' kids, lol). I thought I had been through my fair share of parenting challenges and surely anything else would be relatively smooth sailing by comparison. I was obviously mistaken. For whatever reason, when my youngest sought me out as a parent, he obviously felt that I had not yet learned whatever it is that I am fated to be taught in this life.
He is 3 now, with more than his fair share of obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and goes by the moniker "Dennis the Menace." Of course, to make matters worse, he is a largely non-verbal 3 (an experience I do not recommend to anyone). He has merrily latched on to the word "menace," happily referring to himself as "memace" while giving you his wicked "devil may care" grin. His is a larger-than-life personality with a wicked sense of humor and a grin that I imagine he will greatly need in the years to come as I think it will be his salvation. It is he who has prompted me to chronicle life with a 3-year-old. And the adventure continues...
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