My somewhat bi-polar 3 year old

2 posts in 1 week – I’m determined to keep up with it this time!

Up until a few weeks ago, we were feeling pretty proud of our parenting abilities – we’d managed to get to age 3 w/o any major issues.  About 2 weeks before the end of school, she started challenging us at every turn!  Routine tasks have been met with anger and frustration.  “Time to brush your teeth.”  “NO I DON’T WANT TO BRUSH MY TEETH. YOU CAN BOSS ME AROUND.” “It’s not OK to hit people.” “I DON’T LIKE YOU ANYMORE!” And I could go on and on.

What is going on??  75% of the time, she’s a fun-loving child who gets along with everyone, shares well, and is very polite (both to us and others!).  I feel as though I have to tread carefully around situations so as not to ‘flip a switch’ and deal with one of her tantrums!  Is there something I can do to avoid these tantrums?  Or are we in fact incredibly LUCKY to have such a mild mannered child that this is what I consider “wild” when most kids act like this all the time?  I hate feeling like I’m always on her case and yelling at her (which is what we tell her NOT to do but in fact we are hypocrites and do it when we become frustrated…what else to do?)…I only feel like a good parent when she’s happy…but when she’s frustrated and angry, I feel like I’m failing…

 

I guess I should feel fortunate to feel like a good parent at all!