When you become a mother, you learn about this interesting phenomena. I've been trying to come up with a catchy phrase to define it the past 3 years but still haven't found something that sticks. But basically, when you become a mother your child(ren) seem to always know just how far to push you before you snap. They also can feel when you think you're actually figuring out motherhood and start to believe you can handle it all. Then they take you down a few notches to remind you of who is really in charge.
When my son was young, I joke how he used to read my mind. At first, after a few days of good naps and some predictable behavior, I would find myself on the phone with someone saying, "Things are actually going good. I think I'm finally setting into a nice routine with him. I can do this." The second the words came out of my mouth...BAM! Early morning wake ups, screaming through naps, cranky for no reason whatsoever, needing to be held constantly, and a whole slew of unpredictable, exhausting behaviors would knock me over for a few days. But again, I would fall into the same trap. After another "easy" period I'd utter those words, "I got this" and the whole charade would happen again. It got so eerie that I couldn't even THINK I had it under control, he seriously read my mind!
Then my daughter was born and it's unbelievable but I swear the two of them immediately started to communicate with each other. Even when she was just 6 weeks old and the only thing she could do was barely hold her own head up, they somehow knew when to crack the whip. Now for the two of them to be a mess simultaneously, well that would just be cruel. So they take turns. Maybe my son has a rough week and really needs my attention, well then the Peanut will be good as gold. Then Music Man will start calming down and be really cooperative, and I'd get a half day of two well-behaved, somewhat predictable, happy kids and think to myself "I think I've got this...?" and BOOM, Peanut will stop napping well and I have to attend to her needs for a week.
So it comes as no shock to me that as I finally start to figure out the Music Man and his eating habits that my normally fantastic eating Peanut would begin throwing her food, eating nothing but blueberries, and screaming at me throughout meals. Last weekend I was feeling like Mom of the Year as I watched my son eat fish, carrots, avocado and some beets for dinner. And with that meal, his sister started refusing everything.
Now the difference this time around is that I'm not stressing. I know she'll eat eventually, and I am not jumping through hoops of fire to appease her. She seems to want to eat while she is crawling around (I experimented and put the same pancake she had rejected in her high chair on my coffee table and she gobbled it up faster than my dog could have). She also demands to have a spoon and/or plate on her tray so she can eat the food off of something (or just have another item to chuck). Basically, she's getting opinionated but I'm not gonna let her get to me! I know she'll eat eventually, it's just a matter of time.
And with that final sentence, she is up a solid 45 minutes early from her nap. Her brother is at school so they clearly sent signals and decided I'm getting too comfortable with my 90 minute break for the week...
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