Operation Surviving Monsters

A few days ago, as I sat watching my three-year-old throw a full-on kicking, screaming tantrum on the floor at Super Target because I wouldn't buy him a Starburst, I thought to myself "Wow, he has turned into a little monster!" On the drive home I thought about all the monster-like things that have been cropping up lately, such as screaming at the exact moment his baby sister drops off to sleep so that she wakes right back up again or coloring all over the computer screen at IKEA while mom wasn't looking. I guess I should mention that he isn't a monster all the time, sometimes he is the sweetest, cutest, smartest boy around...but lately the "Mr. Hyde" of his personality is definitely taking over. As the hopelessness of raising a monster started to sink in I began to think about the days I used to teach math to teenagers. Why could I get a class of 30 fourteen year olds to do the dreaded subject of math, and even like it, and I couldn't get one three year old to put on his shoes when it was time to leave? Something definitely needed to change. What I needed, besides a rich piece of chocolate, was a plan...a good, old fashioned plan filled with all the mommy and teaching tricks I could drum up to help me bring back the sweet three-year-old I once knew and survive the unavoidable monster moments he was capable of...and voila Operation Surviving Monsters was born. Mostly, this blog is reassurance for me that I'm trying even if I see no visible changes in my little angel. It is also a way to catalogue my ideas for the inevitable day my baby girl turns into a monster herself. And third, I hope this blog may provide ideas and solutions, or maybe just comfort, to those of you who are surviving monsters of your own. I claim to be no expert, just a mom in distress trying to survive the mommy-world one monster at a time.