Bad Parents, Real Life

It’s been one of those weeks.

It started with a head cold that left me with no energy to clean up the house and barely enough to feed and care for Nate. And each time I thought I was feeling better, my head would explode in sneezes and I needed another nap. I was very grateful for Nick Jr.

The chaos was evident in our parenting as well.  

After three days of congestion and headaches, Daniel and I were both  feeling restless and decided to take a trip to the mall. We tried to cajole Nate into eating his dinner quickly, but in our hurry, we were stupid. “If you hurry, maybe we’ll get some ice cream,” we told him. Nate heard “ice cream,” and we were thinking “maybe.” Rookie mistake.

On our way home, Nate, being three and not stupid, started asking for ice cream. We had just bought milk and had no intention of making another stop before heading home—we had completely forgotten. “Nate, honey, I’m sorry, we’ll have to do it another time.”

To Nate, this was a tragedy. “I’m so sad I not get ice cream.”

Stellar parents, we.

I offered chocolate cookies at home, but nothing would suffice. “I don’t like cookies!” he wailed.

The theme continued the next night when Nate woke up at ungodly o’clock, screaming for water. He was loud enough to wake me from my cold coma, so I stumbled up the stairs and grabbed a glass of water. He refused the drink, the thing he had wanted so badly and apparently, had fallen asleep after demanding. And being the mature adult that I am, I lost my temper. He screamed at me and I yelled at him. At whatever hour it was, there wasn’t a grownup in the room, just two tired people acting like three-year-olds.

Obviously, not my finest moment.

Nate’s a toddler. He loses his temper, struggles to figure things out, and throws his toys. But Daniel and I are new at this life too. We’re toddler parents. We’re going to lose our temper, struggle to figure what works, and get mad. Nate forgave me the next morning, smiling and eager to see me like always. All was forgiven.

We’ll figure it out.