Raising a three-year-old is not easy. Raising a three-year-old is also a lot of fun. It just depends on which three-year-old shows up from day-to-day.
Wednesday saw a mix of clouds and sun throughout the day, one that was not nice enough to take the boys to the beach. Plus, they had been there the previous four or five days in a row, so it was time to take a little break from the sun and the heat.
With Mommy’s birthday fast approaching, Tony and Daddy went downtown to do a little shopping while Enzo napped. Tony was such a good boy during the adventure, holding my hand while walking everywhere and even saying hi to people he passed.
The ride home was a little interesting, as Tony starting asking to go on another adventure. I told him we had to go home and start to get dinner ready. His answer should have been a clue that a major meltdown was on the horizon.
He said he didn’t want to eat dinner and that he only wanted to go on another adventure. I promised him we would do so after he ate dinner, but this was still not good enough. He then fell asleep a couple of blocks from the house, which made the ensuing tantrum even worse.
Upon arriving home, Tony woke up as I took him out of the car seat and he immediately broke down into tears, begging for another adventure. This crying gag did not last long, as he hopped on the couch when we went inside and relaxed a little more.
Mommy and Nonna began to get dinner ready, which is when the tantrum went into full effect. Tony broke down when called for dinner, screaming that he wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to eat anything.
We all sat down to dinner, including Uncle CJ and his girlfriend, Alli. Enzo ate everything in sight, including a baby dinner and then some of the pasta bolognese Nonna made, which is par for the course. The night before, we went to Smitty’s Clam Bar in Somers Point and Enzo literally ate from the minute we sat down at our table to the minute we left. Nothing new here.
So, back to the story at hand. Tony refused to join us at the kitchen table, sitting on the couch crying that he didn’t want dinner because he claimed he wasn’t hungry. We knew that this was a fib because within 10 minutes of dinner being over, we knew he would ask for a snack.
We told Tony no snack if he did not eat dinner and that did not sit well with him either. Oh, the joys of raising a three-year-old.
Nonna went over and tried her hand at calming him down and getting him to come to the table. That did not work either and Tony pretty much does whatever Nonna says.
At this point, Mommy threw her hat into the ring. She went over to the couch, picked Tony up and brought him to the table. She went to put him in a chair, but his legged were locked around her waist. Even though Tony was sitting at the table, the tears were still flowing and the tantrum was far from complete.
We pleaded, begged and bartered with Tony to get him to eat dinner. Nothing worked. Not even the idea that he could go ride his bike after dinner once it stopped pouring.
Nonna finally said, “Well, he’s three and this is what you deal with when you have a three-year-old. Everyone goes through this stage. I went through it with both you (Mommy) and CJ.”
Hearing this, Uncle CJ offered an apology to his mother. “Mom, I’m sorry if I did this when I was three. Wow. I owe you flowers and dinner.”
Who would have thought that a dinnertime tantrum from a toddler would prompt an apology from the toddler’s uncle?
The tantrum finally came to an end when Tony agreed that he would eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. At this point, we gave up on the fight for him to eat what was on the table for dinner and just wanted him to eat something.
Tony dried his tears, calmed down and returned to the cute, nice little boy we all love. Even though his tantrum was finally done, we all know that another one can strike at any moment. Those are the joys of raising a three-year-old who wants to be independent one minute and then have someone do everything for him the next.
