The mood

The other day, Andrew was sitting a few feet in front of me and I could tell that at any moment, he would stretch out on the ground and start crying about something. I said to Max

Can't you tell he is in a mood?

We had a really good laugh, because we know all too well that familiar body language, without even seeing the look on his face, that he is in one of his moods.


At this point, we begin to sort of walk on eggshells around him. Knowing that any comment or request we make of him, might tip him over the edge to a full blown tantrum, leading to further discipline. So, in order to avoid a huge explosion we sort of sugar-coat whatever we need to say. Whatever the request may be, we gingerly say it, or make it sound fun (if they have to go to bed or something). The problem is that no matter how hard we try to avoid it, he eventually is tipped over the edge anyway.


We often have to rack our brains as to why he might be in a mood.

It might be that I cut his strawberries and put them in a bowl, rather than give him whole strawberries.

Or it could be that he wanted to carry his bowl to his seat instead of me.

maybe its because I got out the Cheerios when HE wanted to get them out

maybe he wanted the blue spoon instead of a metal spoon.

sometimes its because he wants to use OUR bathroom instead of THEIR bathroom.

sometimes its because one of us "made him sad" by gently reprimanding him about something, or telling him "no".

But almost every night he gets into one of these moods at bedtime.

It usually begins when we say, "okay, go to the bathroom one last time before bed" . . . and so it begins! The crying. . . laying on the floor. . .the threats of missing out on a story if he doesn't hurry to the bathroom and get in bed. . . the slow moving crawl to the bathroom. And finally, the SLOW crawl and look of desperation on his face as he makes his way to the bed. He then stands next to his bed, one leg in and one leg out, whining until we make another threat. Most of the time he begrudgingly gets in, although other times he has to miss story time, which of course makes the mood 10 times worse!

You gotta love 2 year olds!!

the habit

Yesterday we went to the dentist and Luke was told that he had to quit sucking his thumb. This was super sad to him, as the hygenist explained that we can paint yucky tasting stuff on his thumb to get him to stop. Eventually, if that doesn't work we can get something inserted into his mouth that will poke him every time he tries to suck his thumb. I watched him as he started to hold back his tears. Such a big boy. I had to hold back a few tears myself. So on our way home, we discussed our options, and I suggested maybe putting a sock over his hand (someone from church had done this with her child). He felt that this would be the best option.

He was such a big boy to want to try and stop. He understood that this was a habit which needed to be broken. He cried for 1 1/2 hours last night, until finally daddy went and laid down with him, when he quickly fell asleep.

Tonight was easier as we just got Rafael (one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) from some friends. But it was very sad for me that he threw his blanky on the floor, saying, "I don't need my blanky anymore now that I don't suck my thumb. I will just use Rafael, and he will poke me if I try to suck my thumb". So I said (wanting for my little boy to not grow up too fast) "are you SURE you don't want your blanky anymore? .. . is it too hard to not suck your thumb when you have your blanky?" This is his special blanky that he has not been able to sleep without since he was born!! My sweet little boy rolled over and tried to go to sleep.

After about 10 minutes, I couldn't resist. I went into his room again and could tell that he was still sad to not be able to suck his thumb and was having trouble falling asleep. I laid down with him and he quickly went to sleep (because he didn't have a nap today). I treasure this special memory, and although it is so sad to watch him grow up, it is a part of life and we must enjoy each and every phase.