And compared to how early Aedyn started and how intense his tantrums were, I guess we do have it easy. (I know comparing children is taboo, but it's inevitable, so I'm not going to pretend that I don't.)
Still, the past week was more than trying. It was heartbreaking.
I watched my sweet, compliant, little boy who would do anything you asked him to with a sweet smile. Suddenly start refusing the simplest request with a hard look in his eyes. When it came to doing things he's not allowed to do, we went from a gentle reminder correcting the problem to repeated redirection and the resulting tantrum.
Maybe I should define tantrum because the boys' versions differ so much. Jaron's tantrums are pretty short, he is specifically mad at whoever has had the audacity to tell him no & after a few seconds he's done. (Aedyn's tantrums would last for a long time and he'd often forget what he was mad about in the first place.)
So now I'm left with disciplining my 19 month old.
The 19 month old that has me fighting myself. "He's just a baby, he doesn't know what he's doing." "He may not know what he's doing, but someone has to teach him what's acceptable/unacceptable behavior."
But before we can really start doing much we have to define his boundaries, and maybe redefine Aedyn's. So many of our issues have to do with Jaron wanting to do everything that Aedyn does. I don't feel like it's fair to remove some of the things that Aedyn is allowed to do just because Jaron is not old enough or big enough (i.e. walk down the steps by himself or use the computer); but we have to do something.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have some answers, but for today...we're just going to feed him to the dinosaurs...
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