Where did that little angel go that went to bed when we asked, slept through the night, gave hugs and kisses whenever asked and didn’t think that “No!” was the ONLY WORD in the English language? *sigh*

I try not to let it get to me when the only word she will say is “NO!”.  I also try not to let it get to me when she decides that she just wants to sleep on the floor.  I’m very confused as to why she wants to sleep on a hard floor over a soft bed, but whatever…she’s a two year-old.  Their logic defies the reasoning of a rational, albeit sleep-deprived, large human. 

Ah, the terrible two’s.  I know right now there are mother’s of teenagers out there ready to say, “It only gets worse!!” in their wise and sage voices….trying to rub it in that raising children is akin to slave labor, only you don’t get paid as well.  Yeah, I know…sometimes our children are less than pleasant.

Maybe it is just me, but I don’t really like it when people try to compare raising kids as if it were such a painful experience and why in the heck did you choose to do such a thing??  I bet men don’t get that all the time like us women.  We compare every minute detail of our children’s lives in an effort to one up each other on who has it worse.  I try not to participate, but sometimes it is hard. 

I have the hardest time when it comes to mother’s talking about their toddler’s temper tantrums.  If someone talks about tantrums and screaming from their toddler and it didn’t start at infancy, I just want to tell them to get on their knees and thank the good Lord above for blessing them so thoroughly.  Having had a colicky baby that turned into tantrum-thrower extraordinaire, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a day without wanting a drink.  I don’t know if Anya was a good baby really, or if it was just that we compared her to her brother!  love ya kid, but you are a handful!

But then there are the good days.  The days when your kids play together nicely and eat what you feed them and give you hugs and kisses and let you take pictures of them happily.  *sigh*  It does happen…just not frequently.  Mostly we are awarded with a few moments each day of parental bliss.  It helps us to remember why we decided to have these little urchins to complete to our world.  And they do. 

Would Halloween or Christmas be as much fun if it weren’t for the little ones?  Would the first snowfall of winter, the first rain of spring and an errant rainbow be as fascinating?  Would it be as much fun to chase the rabbits out of your yard if you had to do it yourself??

Ah, children, they keep us young.