I think there is some type of fade switch in my child. You know. Like the kind you install in your house to make the lighting dim? Well, I think Jameson has one. Except his switch keeps getting brighter and brighter, and never goes dim. They say, “Terrible two’s and terrific three’s ,” right? I don’t think so.  It should be the “Unforgiving, three’s.” Jameson’s switch isn’t turning to terrific. It’s just getting higher and higher, and so is my stress level. For instance, here was my day.

I was planning on going to a Mom’s craft fair this Saturday. It has a bunch of vendors with items for Mom’s or children. Some crafts, classes, activities, products, you get the picture. Logistics didn’t work out, because Kevin had planned on going shooting in the afternoon, so I took the kids with me.

Jameson was so great, and Ella slept most of the time. He loved going to all the different tables, and being able to participate in crafts at some of them. He kept telling me, “I’m being a good boy, Mom!” And he was. I was so grateful. Except when I was ready to leave, and he was still looking. After 3 hours, we were finally able to leave without too much of a fight. We got in the car, picked up some lunch, and headed to our next stop.

Well, Jameson fell asleep on the way to the store. You would think, with both kids asleep, I would have just headed home. Nope. I was up north and needed to go to all the stores while I was up that way. So we entered the dollar store, after I pulled Jameson from his slumber out into the cold air. I think I lost him about 10 time,s one of which my mother-in-law called me in the middle of. So sorry if I was short on the phone. I was a little stressed. There were some other kids there running the isles, and Jameson felt he needed to follow his “friends.”

We finally made it out of that store with only an extra bag of candy and his favorite fairy pez dispenser. Then we headed to the store I miss the most but hate… Wal Mart. It’s about a 35 minute drive with no traffic from our house. So I was trying to get some things for his birthday (without him noticing), and in the process he found a Big Buzz. This was after examining the other toy isles for a good 15 minutes.  Well, when I told him it was time to go, he lost it. I pushed too far, and I realize that, but my patience were gone. Really not a good combo for us both. He started his tantrum, on the floor. Yelling as loud as he could over his crying, “I want Big Buzz.” So since I had stuff I needed to buy, and this store isn’t just up the street for me, I did what I thought best at the moment. I couldn’t just take my kids and leave, leaving my cart and all, because it takes too much effort to get there.

So, I headed for the back corner of the store, and let him sit in the corner and throw his tantrum. I happened to be at the gun counter at this point. The poor guy there, just kept looking at me with a smile. He got to watch me try and put Jameson in the cart, with stiff legs. Then try to put him in the basket part and move Ella to the front part, then back, and so on. For a time, I held him in the front part like a baby as tight as I could while he scream, tried to claw, pinch, and whatever else he could do. In this whole process, he lost both shoes which then had to be retrieved and put in the basket. Somewhere along the lines, Ella lost her binki. She won’t take any other kind, and I have to order them off the website. So that really sucked. All the while this is going on he’s yelling, “I’m being a good boy. I want big Buzz. I’m being a good boy!” Really knows how to show it, right.

Finally, he spotted his beloved fairy pez dispenser in the diaper bag, and asked for it. Upon some bargaining, he had to stop crying and sit in the cart, he calmed down and I delivered the pez. We then hurried through the store to finish and get out before any more upsets. Which didn’t happen, but it wasn’t as dramatic.

So again I ask, when does this switch start to dim, and I get my loving little boy back? Because it’s definitely not at 3. His birthday is next week and the closer we get, the worse he gets. This independence he demands is getting to me. I will say, when he is being nice, he’s extremely loving and fun. He is awesome. But, when he’s naughty, it’s bad. For both of us.