Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Raising Albert Einstein MacGyver


My two babies who are 9 and 2.11 are in constant competition for the baby spot. Sydney is three times Paddy's size and yet daily he beats the crap out of her. The picture below pretty much sums up their relationship.
(Yes, that is Paddy beating his sister and NO I did not take the picture....their big sister did!)

The sad thing is we are such a cruel and unusual family that we all find great entertainment in this love/hate relationship the two of them share. (Syd even finds herself unable to stop laughing about it) They are both control freaks (God only knows where they get that from) but little man is STRONG WILLED and Syd is a bit of a pushover so she will always lay down and die in the end. I'm to the point now where I just sit back and laugh if I'm not in the same room. Of course, if I'm in the same room I try with all my might to maintain a straight face and discipline Paddy for being so mean and scold Syd for not taking a stronger stand for herself. After all, he is 2.11 and she is 10. I do believe she could take him if she tried. He verbally assaults her as well. Y'all have heard how verbally eloquent he is for one so young. Nothing gets past him. But what kills me is he is really a sweet child. He is loving and affectionate and kindhearted and adores his other big sister...there is just something about Syd that rubs him the wrong way.


Like right now, as I'm typing they are both downstairs. I hear everything that is going on but technically I am working (I am, really, I just took a moment to vent and blog) and I tell them I am not going to referee when I'm working. She is crying like a baby....I mean you would think that some giant man has broken into our house and is just beating the mess out of her. Its just Paddy. He is bossing her around and telling her what he wants to watch on TV and she is crying because she is sick of watching "his shows". Well, if you were obeying your mother and not watching TV right now this wouldn't even be an argument. I'm hearing screams of "Don't thay (say) that word, Thydney" (yes, Paddy has a lisp) "I want to watch Fireman Tham (sam)" "Change it now, Thydney" and now that he has gotten his way "Tank you Thydney". Now Sydney is threatening to tell on Paddy....OMG...I'm about to cry I'm laughing so hard..."Peease don't tell Sissy, I'll be nice." What a manipulator. (OK, I heard you all screaming, "Get off your lazy arse and go parent!!!!!" I did and now I'm back.)

He has a birthday coming up very soon and the big topic of discussion is "Who is coming to Paddy's party?" So far, his dad, myself, his "Bubba" and "Gunny"(which is his stuffed bear). Lets see.... the shark and the snake (no idea) and some friends from school. But you can bet your bloomers he has told Sydney one million times, "You can't come to my berfday". Of course, he has told me that a few times also. I swear he gets it from his dad's gene pool because none of the other children acted like this when they were his age. He crawled out of his crib before he could walk, I had to special order 48" gates in order to keep him from flipping head first down the stairs. That took about two weeks for him to learn to scale. He learned to unlock the deadbolt when he was about 26 months old. Figured out how to get past the child locks on the kitchen cabinets around the same time.....this was of course after he learned how to open the gate that I put up blocking him from entering the kitchen at all. Oh yeah....and did I mention he now knows how to unbuckle his car seat harness???? On the bright side.....he did potty train early because he was excited about climbing up on a stool and standing up to pee....the thrill of having permission to climb on something was all the motivation he required.

So, if anyone has any experience parenting a strong willed, verbally astute, extremely intelligent three year old with the ingenuity of MacGyver who kicked his big sister out of her baby status ........I welcome any words of wisdom you may wish to bestow upon me.

4 comments:

wife.mom.nurse said...

oh my...you have your hands full!

wish I could advise, but i cannot think because my kids are driving me crazy bickering! It's always something :)

zelzee said...

Don't look at me.......mine are grown and gone, and I'm a grandparent.

We let the kids do anything.....

Unknown said...

It surely is a battle in this house too with my little girl! I laugh when I can and I'm consistentin discipline when I need to be. It's a tough world out there and they really need all the help we can give them huh?

me in the pink said...

Merlot. Lots of Merlot.