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Never listening to my husband again!  Having kids close together so they go through their phases close to each other is not a good idea at all, honey!  Good thing we are not having any more kids!  Oh my goodness, so my son is about to be three and my daughter is about to be five!  What I am about to be faced with is going to be insane!  A five year old who likes everything done her way and a three year old who wants to do everything by himself and have all the attention!  WOW!  Not ready for a five and three year old!

When my husband and I started talking about having our second child, I told him I was not ready for another little one.  Our daughter was still battling reflux and not sleeping through the night and the thought of having two little kids waking up constantly during the night just didn’t appeal to me!  But, he prevailed and now we have our wonderful son.  But, neither child sleeps through the night and both have gone through the hell known as reflux!  Whether it’s a nightmare or a wet diaper, they are up and down all night long!  I told you honey!!!!

Our daughter was horrid during her three’s!  I have tried to suppress those memories of her during that year!  Now, I’m faced with our son going through that phase!  Oh, man….maybe he’ll be better!  All I can do is try to be as understanding as possible, take deep long breathes, and spend plenty of time out of confined spaces!  Right now, he’s in the jumping phase!  Anything this boy can climb on, he is going to jump off of with amazing air time!  He has never had a fear of anything and that scares me!

Our soon-to-be 5 year old, is a whole other story!  I have no idea what I am going to do!  She already talks like a grown-up and tries to act like one too!  She already wants to put on make-up whenever she leaves the house.  Oh, she has a little boyfriend!  Yes, she is four and already she has a crush on a six year old!  When we tell her we are going over to his house, she has to plan and coordinate her outfits, she has to paint her nails to match her outfit, and she has to wear her hair down!  We are going to be in so much trouble when she is a teenager!

No matter when we had a second child, there would always be a phase they are going through.  Kids move from one bad phase onto the next phase that’s going to drive me crazy!  And, even though they drive me crazy sometimes and our house is always a mess and always chaotic, I love my children and my husband with all my heart and wouldn’t change a single moment with them.  My husband and our kids are without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me!

I have come to a realization that my daughter is just like me!  It’s absolutely terrifying the first time you look into your child’s eyes and see yourself!  She was having one of her “I’m right and I know I’m right and you’re wrong and I know you’re wrong” arguments with me, then I got a cold chill down my spine and realized I had this exact conversation with my parents when I was 16!  Wow, she’s advancing fast and I’m completely at a loss as to what to do!

You have to understand something; I was a good little girl growing up, until I made it to High School! For most people that know me, they find that hard to believe!  But, seriously, I was a little angel as a child.  Then hormones and the idea that I knew everything and there was no one, especially my parents that could tell me anything!  Well, minus the hormones, she is me!  She is ALWAYS right and there is nothing anyone can tell her to make her change her mind because once she has it in her head, it is written in stone!

It’s so frustrating to raise a strong-willed child, when you are a strong-willed adult!  It’s hard to tell her how to control herself, when there are MANY times; I have no idea how to control myself!  This is a project we have to work on together and I have no idea where to start!

So, now what do I do?  How do I help this little person try to understand and control what she’s feeling and saying, when I’m still trying to understand and control it myself?!  She is so strong and smart, and I do not want to do or say anything that will crush her wonderful outgoing personality.  So, what do we do because it’s not just her that needs the help?  We both have to figure out how two strong-willed girls can live peacefully in the same house!  Poor Daddy!

Why does it have to be so difficult to get my four year old out of the house on time?  Seriously, she takes forever to get ready in the morning.  She takes her sweet little time doing the simplest tasks.  It drives me crazy!  It literally takes her 20 minutes to brush her teeth because she has to talk and sing to herself in the mirror and fluff her hair and pucker her lips and twist and turn in the mirror!  And God forbid she has to put her shoes on by herself!  That would be me speaking another language to her, she doesn’t understand.

I get it; she’s only four years old.  I get it, trust me!  But, if I don’t stay on top of her in the morning, she would miss the bus!  I have to get myself ready before we sit down for breakfast or it won’t happen!  I love her to death but she gets in her ‘moods’ in the morning.  This child is so not a morning person!  She loves to sleep in, relax in front of the TV before breakfast, and just take it easy in the morning.  If you start to push her to do anything before she’s had time to relax and wake up, you better be prepared for a fight!

Then there are those mornings when she wakes up in a bad mood and man you know it’s going to be a hell of a morning!  If she wakes up cranky, she makes the mornings hell, literally!  She won’t be able to brush her teeth, eat her breakfast, and put any article of clothing on without breaking down into a full blown meltdown!  She kicks and screams and yells, and whines, and throws herself on the floor.  She says the meanest things you have ever heard to anyone who gets in her way!  Those mornings, there is not enough coffee in the world to help me!

But, she is the most amazing little girl I have ever known.  The way she sees the world always seems to leave me breathless.  She sees the world in unique colors only she can see and she only sees the good in everyone.  There are moments when I wish I could be just like her and see the world through this innocent beautiful creature.