For the thirty-six childless years of my life I’d heard the following phrase whenever a small child was being a brat:
“He’s/She’s just tired.”
And for thirty-six years I would think to myself “Yeah right! What a lame excuse! Your kid is just a spoiled brat and you just haven’t done a very good job in raising the little snot.”
I want to offer all of those parents a sincere and public apology. The so-called lame excuse is a fact. Even the best of kids turn into raging, whiny, bratty demons when they’re beyond the need for sleep.
Babito is a prime example. He’s a compassionate, sensitive, loving toddler when he’s well rested, but miss his nap or bed time and he becomes a very young juvenile deliquent. He does exactly the opposite of what you tell him to do and the smallest incident can lead to a big tantrum.
Scary thought: I’ve heard many parents farther along the parenting road than us warn me that the terrible twos are not the worst year, that the threes are much worse.
I’m hoping that Babito is just advanced for his age.
Tiredness leads to constant testing by the Babito. When he’s tired he loves to see what he can get away with and how we will react. And what’s worse about this time is that it’s usually when we’re tired too after a long day of work.
We try to remain consistent and calm with our discipline, and for the most part I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it, but i can’t deny that it can get exasperating at times.
So all of you out there without kids, please take it from me: “He’s just tired” is a very accurate and honest statement. I don’t have to tell you parents – you already know. And once again, I offer my apologies.
