Meltdowns and more

Micro is two. And the "terrible two's" are, well, pretty terrible. Apart from having to adjust to sharing mommy's and daddy's attention with his new baby sister (which he has for the most part, taken to well), his major meltdowns have become incessant.

Everyday I find myself reprimanding him and dealing with his frustration issues. I know this is all part of parenting a stage Micro has to grow out of. But it's very difficult to deal with. I'm not alone in this, this much I know. Last Monday, while at Home Depot, as I was talking to one of the workers, Micro would continue to interrupt me asking for a "cookie." When I continued to reply, "I will talk to you after I talk to her," he had had enough and threw his biggest tantrum to date. After speaking with the Home Depot worker, I addressed him calmly at first and said, "I have no cookie. When we get home you can have one. But you have to wait." This went on for 10 more minutes as he continued to throw his tantrum right there in the middle of the various nails aisle. I was mortified and really close to losing it with him. Not only was he completely misbehaving, but he had in the process of his tumultuous screams, woken up Micron from her much needed nap. Now the two of them were doing "crying duets." It was one of those moments you wish you could escape from. I ran to the car with both kids, strapped them in the carseats and headed home. Trying to tune them out and relax myself with deep breaths as I drove in madness and frustration. The crying ensued for another half hour. No matter what I did (and I'm sure I did some pouting and yelling of my own-which didn't help), Micro couldn't calm down and Micron was feeding off all the bad energy. After some much needed space and time outs, it came to an end. 

But the end result, left me wanting to cry it out myself. It's these crazy moments that make me think twice about motherhood, but know this is the deal I signed up for.

So how do you other mamas handle meltdowns?

In other news, there's a lot of holiday madness going on in my family. Of the good kind. I'll share that with you another time. But I thought I'd share with you some great posts from other mamas in the blogosphere. Since having had Micron, and with the holidays in full swing, I've been following these moms and their advice on how to dress your best, post-partum. Trouble having your toddler eat some greens that make your pee stink. Well, dress them up in a new way--check here. Traveling is especially a pain this time of year, so perhaps you should check this mom's travel tips to help you out.

Christmas Eve is only 10 DAYS AWAY!! As Christmas quickly approaches, apart from surviving the hoards of traffic in malls, waiting in long lines at your post office, remember that all this is a celebration of family. And for us Catholics, the birth of our Savior, for which all this would not exist, if not for his grace. So enjoy the holidays and take time to reflect on more important matters.