Only a phase

Jack has taken on a new persona these past few days and I find myself not liking my son quite as much as I did last week. Oh, I love him, immeasurably. But recently I haven't been exactly craving his company. He seems to have morphed into a whiny, moody child with the attention span of a flea and the attitude of a teenager. And he still won't eat dinner worth a damn. He interrupts me with "mo-om" that rivals what a 14 year old girl could produce, and pays no attention to books we read or questions we ask. He finds and employs every possible technique to stall on the way to bed, or on the way out the door. He wants to do what he wants to do, and nothing else, right now... He is not interested in games or puzzles or reading or writing or drawing, any of those things I think he ought to be doing, but he is obsessively interested in the flying habits of moths and will drop anything to try to catch a bug. He is fascinated by the world, busy, inquisitive... all those wonderful toddler trait. He is also exhausting, and more than a little bit annoying and frustrating to this mama.

Sigh. I hear tell 3 is the new 2.

I also remember Ellen, our Parent Center guru, counseling us when Jack was new and we were scared and obsessive first time parents, worrying about a new behavior or sleep pattern.

Everything is a phase. Good or bad, its only a phase.

Back then, a phase lasted a few days, or maybe a few weeks. And she was right. Some of those phases were wonderful (sleeping through the night!! sleeping through the night!!) and we were so sad to see them go. Other phases came and went and our lives improved immensely (remember babies who screamed any time the car stopped?).

I am wondering, tonight, how long phases last for 3 year olds. Hoping that this is only a phase, that someday soon, with that magic of phases, our boy will start answering our questions, paying attention to things, following directions...

Or maybe I should wonder how long phases last for mommies? Here's hoping that tonight's fixation on all the faults of my son, is only a phase.