Trouble In Paradise

I don't want to complain, but I'm having a really rough day today. Brooke has been a disaster since she woke up this morning and she did not stop crying, screaming, and throwing temper tantrums all day. She has been quite the handful for the last couple of days, but today was super bad. She was extremely clingy and if it hadn't have been for my sister-in-law, Sarah, being over, I think I would have lost my mind. I've had a nasty headache and a pretty much inconsolable baby and that is a dangerous combination.

This is an example to show our day on a small scale: Tonight during church, I went to pick Brooke up and she said, "No, no, no, no, no, no!" She also arched her back and made it almost impossible for me to hold her. When I told her not to be mean to mommy she tried to bite me. I removed her from the crowd of people, took her into the church nursery, and spanked her. I then asked her to tell me that she was sorry and she bit me AGAIN. We went through the whole spanking routine again and finally she said sorry. She then continued to hit my mom (a BIG no-no) and repeat "no" to me every time that I tried to hold her or get her attention throughout the course of the night. NOT FUN. My day was FILLED with incidents such as this.

Brooke's eye-teeth are coming in, for which I've been giving her Tylenol regularly. HOWEVER, I refuse to justify her actions by her teeth. While some of it may be because she's in discomfort, I'm doing her a major disservice by passing ALL of her negative behavior off onto her teething. My job as her mommy is to discipline her in order to set a good foundation for her future, not to make excuses for her.

I have to confess that I'm struggling with my perpetually fussy toddler. I've always prided myself on being a patient, loving mom. In fact, I don't feel successful at many things in life, but being Brooke's mom has always been an area that I feel particularly strong in. When she is so mean and grumpy, I feel like it's my fault somehow. I have not been able to settle her down over these last couple of days and that really bothers me. If I, her mommy, can't fix her, then who can? I realize that I'm not doing any good by beating myself up but it's just so easy to do when I'm mentally and physically exhausted.

On the way home from church, John (the softy daddy) gave Brooke a cookie. She finished it and this is how our night ended:



You can't see the chocolate all over her face and legs in this picture, but all I have to say is this picture alone erases my crazy day. For the most part anyways... Lol