The Daily

Did I mention that three year olds are terribly difficult to handle?  And did I ever mention they get so much more enjoyable when they are 4?  Well, it's true. 

So all you parents out there trudging aimlessly through toddler town with your threenager, wandering dangerously close to the city limits but never able to cross over into the fields of freedom from tantrums over toast cut in the wrong direction and the fact that, by nature, peanut butter is sticky...

I am here to tell you it gets better!

Enter this guy:

Oh, he still has his moments, don't misunderstand me. But the ratio of enjoyable conversation and banter is far greater than mere survival through tantrum after tantrum after tantrum. 

He's a superhero in a tiny but mighty body. He uses the words "like" and "actually" like they are going out of style.  He cleans up the living room without being asked. He doesn't take a nap anymore. He eats entire hot dogs without needing them cut up. He has watched Top Gun (excluding sex scenes) and has related the experience of Maverick to his life where a daycare buddy of his had to go to a different school leaving him alone and unsure if he could go on without him but then finding the bravery to do so. 

Suddenly, he "doesn't want to talk about" when he jumped and landed face first off of one of the toys at the mall. He reassures me, "Grandma will think of something," when negotiating eating a Lunchable for breakfast instead of for lunch when Grandma is watching him for the day. And I had to agree with him. Can't really argue with that. 

But then he will go to swim lessons and cry and freak out the whole time because one of the instructors "was a guy."  And he will promise to do better next time but only if there are "two girls" there teaching him to swim. 

Four. Way better than 3. And hilarious.