Yes, I understand that my kids behave for other people. Even when they were in daycare, Ellie Never spoke ( and if you know Ellie, this is miraculous ) and Georgia was just a sweet, happy baby.
MY Kids behave? Sure, for you they do, not me... their mother... the one who brought them into the world. Of course they don't behave for me.
When Ellie hit 2 we thought "wow, we should have waited to see what a devil child we were going to have being 2 before we had another baby." Ellie was 18 months old when Georgia was born, and when she turned two, boy was it like a light switch of naughty-ness. She would throw temper tantrums, shout NO all of the time, not eat her food, beat up her sister... the list goes on and on. It's typical terrible two behavior. Rotten. When she hit three ( and I had heard from moms that three was way worse than two and that frightened me ) she really did get worse. She's incredible articulate for her age and has a way of talking back that makes it sound like a 16 year old is talking back to you. Not fun. For some insane reason, we decided that we needed another baby while our daughter was experiencing these gruesome threes. And so, we had another baby before our second daughter was two.
When Georgia turned two, she still got terrible. But mostly it was a copy cat reaction from following the bad behavior of her sister. Sure, I get that. I am an older sibling and I remember my sister following me around all the time. How annoying, ( Sorry, sis, it was. ) So, Georgia is no exhibiting bad behavior because her older sister is fairly rotten. How do I know this? When we have them apart, Georgia is an absolute sweetheart. She says "Yes Mom." and "No Mom." and "Thank you, Mom." What a sweetie! But of course, when her older sister is around it's "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" And not followed by any sweetly mom retorts. Nope.
A couple of months ago we were in Kohls. ( Gosh, I reference Kohl's a great deal, I don't go that often, I swear! ) Anyway, we were in Kohl's looking for a dress for me for my husband's Christmas Party. Ellie was refusing to sit in the cart. Flat out refusing. So, I told her that she could walk beside me as long as she kept her hands to herself, She did pretty well. The occasional hand would jut out and she would touch something "pretty." I remember walking by the jewelry case and her pressing her snotty nose up against the glass and then proceeding to lick it. I was so grossed out.
"Stop that! It's disgusting!"
She wouldn't. I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the glass.
She shouted at the top of her lungs "LET GO OF ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
I told her to stop it. And then...
"NO I WON'T STOP IT! LET GO OF ME! YOU'RE A BAD MOMMY!"
Holy Crap! Did MY kid just say that to me? I was so embarrassed that I snatched them up and ran out of there. I had no idea what to do or say.
I don't get embarrassed very often. I think its funny when my kids scream or throw a fit in a store because they aren't getting what they want. That's normal kid behavior ( although my mom says I never did it )
I just look at the people who are staring at me and say "They're -- whatever age they are at that time "
If they've ever had a kid, they understand what I am talking about. Most people offer pity or sympathy or even empathy. I don't care if someone can't understand my kids' behavior, it happens. I feel bad when it happens to other moms or dads as well.
Our kids don't always act like we want them to. But our kids are their own people. My oldest red haired daughter is incredibly independent. She doesn't like help and she doesn't like to be told what to do, This is bad. She needs to respect people. She does, however, that person never is me. It's always someone else.
We are working on it. Daily. She's not nasty every day, but there are the days when she's rather out of control. Like the Kohl's day. Yikes.
So, when you say my children are well-behaved little angels. Thank you. At least some of it is sinking in and they are good for someone else.
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