Good Golly Miss Molly! Oh Boy Baby Brother!: Please Pardon the Interruption

How many times in the past few weeks have you clicked here hoping to find a new post only to find the same old post about Molly's last party? Well, your click-n-hope for a new post days are over. Here is a brand new one just for you!

I have to admit that I have been an apathetic blogger as of late. At the end of the day--or the beginning--or the middle, the last thing I want to do is sit down at the computer, stare at a blank screen and figure out what to write....even if the computer is shiny, new and wicked fast. Which it is.

Maybe is has to do with my reaction to Molly's current state.

Everyone warned me about the terrible twos. "No," I said, "not this sweet little child who has never thrown a tantrum in her life." But she did. Oh boy, she did.

Some people claimed that their kid went through the terrible threes. "Whew," I said, "good thing Molly got it all out of her system at during her twos." Right. Imagine my surprise when her third birthday rolled around and Molly went into the throws of the terrible threes.

But nobody, NOBODY warned me about the terrible fours. I was blind-sided.

The terrible twos were all about getting what she wanted. The threes were all about rebelling against authority, namely Mommy and Daddy. The fours are all about wanting power and control. A lot of power and a lot of control. Molly wants complete control over everything in her life and in ours.

I know that most kids go through these stages, but Molly has the unique ability to take a normally difficult stage and crank it up to monumental proportions. And to top it off, she is loud. Ask anyone who has ever been around Molly to verify that for you. You will find them at the local Beltone hearing clinic.

What does Molly's quest for power look like? That can be summed up in one word: ugly. If you do something for her, she undoes it and then does it herself. If you tell her to sit down at the table she has to stand until enough time has elapsed so that the decision to sit is now hers, not ours. Everything from the moment Molly gets up must be on her terms, her idea.

It would be one thing if she wanted to control all things related to her, but Molly wants to control our world as well. She comes unglued if we get in the car before she is ready for us to get in the car. She comes unhinged if we walk downstairs without asking her permission. She is a complete control freak. I know because I am a control freak so I easily recognize control freak behavior.

And did I mention that she is loud?

The terrible fours are not pleasant for Molly. They are not pleasant for me. There are days that even an all expense paid trip to Hawaii--alone--would not ease the stress. (However I would be willing to give it a try if anyone is willing to give me the all expense paid trip.) But this stage shall pass; it always does.

The weird thing is that the more that Molly makes life difficult, the more I love her. We will have a huge power struggle at bedtime but before I leave the room, I'll bend down to give her a goodnight kiss. Somehow my heart completely melts, the breath is sucked from my body and I don't know how I could love anyone any more than I do her. Strange how that works.

Anyway, that's the "typical Teri," long-winded explanation. It's cathartic just to write it all down. Probably not so cathartic for you to read it. Sorry.

And now here is what we have been up to in between all of the tantrums.

Sweet little Abby had her 4th birthday!

She celebrated at a Kids Cooking Kitchen.

So much fun!