It's official....

we have entered the terrible two's, and the frantic fours, and the surly sixes. I feel as though all three of my children have been possessed by some sort of attitude monster. I was expecting it with Nicolas, just not so dramatically. One day his fits were simply laying on the floor in silence and the next they are full blown screaming tantrums. The hardest part about the two's is that you never know when one of these nuclear explosion tantrums will erupt. It could stem from not getting food as soon as he is buckled into his high chair, it might start when one of his brothers takes a toy away from him, or it might come out of nowhere, no signs whatsoever to warn us that a tsunami of screaming and writhing on the floor is about to ensue. But, having done this twice before we are slightly more prepared for this attitude problem.

That brings up to out frantic four year old and surly six year old. We all know Dom is high energy, takes after daddy as a child, so I have been told. However, these last few months have brought out a totally new, and not very nice, side of him. He is usually our snuggly love-bug, but lately he has just been ornery and grumpy, and when he is not either of those two things he is running around like a chicken with his head cut off, no rhyme or reason to his craziness. I guess most kids this age are a bit bi-polar, they just have a hard time monitoring their emotions. I think part of his emotions stem from Anthony starting school and losing his best friend for most of the day. He is so social and let't be honest, Nico isn't the best playmate, at least not yet. I do my best, but apparently I am not nearly as cool as Anthony either, so we have a lot of moping around, throwing toys, and just wanting to be a couch potato. I realize this too shall pass, but mostly I just feel bad for him. I wish with all my heart we could put him in preschool, but with all that is going on we just can't justify that expense right now.

As for our surly six year old. Well, again, totally normal. I guess these things go in even year increments, so hopefully next year I will have three lovely, well-behaved children living in my house. Hey, a mom can dream, right? Anyway, Anthony, what can I say? He has experienced a lot of change in these last few months, moving, starting kindergarten, getting glasses. The poor kid has a reason to be on edge. But for the most part he has handled it all in stride, but man, when his emotions flare up, watch out! I don't know anyone else in this house who has that problem (I say tongue in cheek, my cheek, my very emotional cheek.) Part of it is just being exhausted at the end of the day. He was still taking naps most days during the summer so being at school all day really takes it out of him. He is also an introvert like me so while he loves school and has a great time there, when he gets home all he wants is some alone time, but instead he has two little brothers vieing for his attention and it drives him a little nuts. So when we ask him to do something simple, like wash up for dinner, he loses it sometimes. He either bursts into tears or gets really angry. He is learning to deal with his emotions better, but I can't blame the kid for being confused and tired.

Needles to say, we are deep in the throes of child rearing at its ugliest, but at the same time it makes those precious moments all that more wonderful. Like when my baby comes up and kisses me for no reason, no prompting at all, or when he chases Anthony down to get a good bye hug before he leaves for school. I see glimpses, albeit small at the moment, of who they truly are, the sweet, sensitive spirit of Anthony, the hilarious imaginative way Dominic's brain works, and our little teddy bear Nicolas. I must remember to cherish these times for while they are challenging and exhausting, they go by all too quickly. I don't want to take a single un-prompted kiss or tantrum for granted because it is all part of the story of our family, a story in which I am overjoyed to be playing a part.