I have heard multiple people say that for boys, two is usually not bad, but three can be a challenge. It really has been for us. Joshua has learned that he can do things on his own and he is also really testing limits and rules and authority. It is not always fun to deal with. Tonight he grabbed the diaper cream and hid in a corner and squeezed it all over himself. Which there are worse things he could do, but also better since diaper cream is not water-soluable (sort of the point) so kind of a pain to clean up. And plus he knows he isn't supposed to do that, so then we had to deal with the discipline issue too. I have told Jason that I hope this is the most physically tiring phase of parenting because we are tired a lot since with three kids so young, they require a lot of physical interaction and hands-on activities. It probably is because really they get more independent all the time. However, I am sure every phase will bring its own emotional parenting challenges and this is just the beginning of having to think about how to deal with behavior and what are appropriate consequences and things like that. With babies it is easy to divert behavior and there are logical consequences so it isn't as much of an issue. But for bigger kids, it's more about training them to live in society and instilling things like following rules, respect for parents, respect for siblings, respect for property, empathy, kindness, and things like that so it gets a lot harder. So while I think it won't be long before our kids are a little more physically self-sufficient, the challenges of helping them reach their potential in life is something that is just beginning.
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