The Days are Long, but the Years are Short

I was hoping to avoid this, but it appears that we have entered the “trying threes” with a vengeance. Troy has been sporadically and suddenly melting down more and more lately. And it’s for the smallest things.

If he doesn’t get to watch what he wants on the TV within one minute of requesting it. If one of his shoes slips off while he’s running around. If a piece of his pancake falls on the floor. If his shirt slips up in the back while he’s sitting in the car seat. If his blanket gets caught under him when he turns in the bed, and it’s not fully covering him. If I try to help him open his milk cup, because he’s struggling with it. If he’s watching something on the phone and the orientation changes from landscape to portrait, and it’s no longer full screen.

We try to ignore it, but it’s hard. He’s loud, he’s disruptive, and now if we don’t respond, he’s destructive. We also don’t always know what’s going on with the other person or the details of the situation, so he will go from one to the other to play us off each other. My wife had to deal with a series of these fits while taking Troy to school the other morning. It got so bad, sure had to pull over several times to address his issues. She was so rattled by the time that she dropped him off, that she sat down in the waiting room to collect herself before going to work. The staff were so concerned that they came to check on her.

Someone has to break. It’s either going to be him or us. I just hope we have the strength and fortitude to ride this out.