... and then moments like those

Easy come, easy go. It took exactly 4 hours for the warm fuzzies I experienced earlier to vanish into thin air, replaced by all the annoyance and frustration that comes along with parenting an obstinate toddler. People (including the pediatrician) have been warning me for months that toddlers hit a point where they don't want to eat anymore because their bodies don't need the same amount of calories to grow as they formally did. This seemed to happen to Anthony overnight-- one day he was chowing down, the next two bites sustained him the whole day. Today, he ate his oatmeal and banana fine, and had a nutrigrain bar at 11:00am. After a very long nap, I couldn't get him to eat a thing at 2:30pm. I figured he'd be starving by dinner, and I wanted him to eat before my yoga class tonight and before he had to go to **Du-duh-DA-DAAAAHHH** the dreaded GYM CHILDCARE CENTER!

So at 6:00pm I fixed up a yummy dinner of fish fillets and veggies from the beef stew Adam was making in the crockpot. Mr. Obstinate turned up his nose promptly at the veggies. Ok, fine, says I, let's try the fish. No go. Now I'm getting annoyed, but trying not to let him see that as to not fuel the fire. Since he's acting like a baby, I grab a jar of pureed sweet potatoes (aka baby food), which is normally a crowd pleaser. Nah-ah, he ain't having it! I must admit, now I am P-Oed! Our battle becomes a power struggle, in which I lose all sense of reason (how do you reason with a toddler, anyway?) and vow to get some food in that gullet if I have to hold him upside down and pour it in the old fashioned way! Ok, I never intended to do that, but believe me, the thought crossed my mind.

He promptly burst into tears, shaking his head vigorously. I give up on the table, let him out of his high chair, and then try to feed him again in the living room, where he usually has breakfast. All toddler hell is broken loose at this point, and he's wailing as I get more and more frustrated. I give up entirely on the food, just trying to get him to calm down enough that we can go to the gym. He's shifted to high gear now, and there's no turning back. He calms down while we're on the short ride to the gym, but once we get there and enter the childcare center, he lets out full-on hysterics as I pass him to the care attendant. I felt so bad for her, passing on this screaming pile of toddler theatrics while I ran off to teach the class, but I had no other options. Needless to say, I was beyond embarrassed.

The hour apart was good for both of us, as we had both calmed down by time I picked him up. He ate some oatmeal and banana before bed, so hopefully he won't be up at 3:00am tonight wanting to eat. That was the main thing for me-- I knew if he went all day without eating, he'd be wanting mealtime in the middle of the night, and that is not happening!

The emotional roller coaster of parenting a toddler makes me dizzy sometimes. We're up, we're down, we're upside down, we're blasting off at 60 mph and coming to a screeching halt. I know I have to learn to not try to out-stubborn him, but it's so hard to let him get the best of a situation, knowing it could lead to more exaggerated problems in the future. I know that toddlers eat less than babies and I shouldn't have gotten so determined in making him eat, but I also know he can, and probably would, wake up hungry in the night as he's done it before. I also know he butts head with me more than anyone else because I his mother, and he's intent on pushing his limits.

Today was a day of rest from running, but I intend to keep this situation fresh in my mind as I head out tomorrow night. Frustration fuels my running, so I should be on par with the Olympians tomorrow!

My Frustrated Marathon Mommy