Over The Hump?

Lately it seems like we might be leaving the terrible twos behind. Sure, my boys are now 3 1/2, but I can assure you that they have been terrible well past their twos. But in the past few weeks, there have been little indications that they're really becoming little boys instead of toddlers.

Kemper, picky eater extraordinaire (I'm sure that came from me), has been very brave and tried pretty much everything we've presented. He's gone from eating only pizza, tortellini, macaroni & cheese, and chicken fingers to salmon, lentils with rice, quiche, ham sandwiches, clam chowder, lo mein, and baked ziti. In short, it seems my days of cooking two dinners each night are becoming a thing of the past. What a relief! Of course, it's always most successful if we eat as a family, which can be tricky during the week when Morgan is working. But we're trying.

I can actually convince the boys to clean up their toys. Sort of. And with lots of nagging. But they're starting to get it. Kemper occasionally says, "Mommy, I think I'll go clean up the living room." What mom wouldn't be thrilled at this? I hate nagging about something so unimportant, though, so I've enlisted the help of the House Fairy. It's silly, but it works. (If you want more information about her, check out her website: www.housefairy.org)

Bedtime is usually a breeze. Aside from the occasional tussle over how many books we'll read, they're ready to get to bed most nights. The last time we had a sitter, they had a good nap during the day but still asked her if they could go to bed around 7, then did so without any fanfare. Sometimes Rowan still sneaks out of his room to ask stalling questions. "Mommy, about what time are we going to wake up?" "Mommy, I'm sweaty so will you check on me later and put my blanket back on me?" Or similar things.

There are, of course, still tantrums and occasional bad days. But those will last forever, I think. I keep running into parents of older kids at the grocery or similar locations, usually when I'm being stern with the boys about not listening, and they universally say, "Oh, it just gets worse, you wait!" Hmmm. That may be, but at least now they can reason somewhat, and can finally be trusted (most of the time) not to run away from us when we aren't looking.