.flipped.

It happened, something flipped in my little boy.  Within the last week he has become a monstrous three year old, full of tantrums and telling me what to do.  We've had two solid days of ridiculous fits over such things as parked tractors and popcorn.  Yesterday, after I totally lost it on him after one such fit, I sat on the couch and cried in guilty exhaustion, while he continued to scream in the corner.  I thought, how am I possibly going to be able to have another baby with "THIS" happening.  I feel completely overwhelmed with this new found attitude and stubborn behavior.  Add to the fact that I'm 7 months pregnant with the inability to physically control some of his temper without exerting a lot of my already depleted energy, and you can imagine that my patience is pretty much shot.  I talked to Roy about it all last night, trying to devise some strategies to help teach Finn what behavior is appropriate, and help nip some of this in the bud.  It has come down to being clear about our expectations (making those expectations realistic), and being consistent and immediate with the consequences instead of letting him drag it out over and over beating down my defenses.  I felt better and more confident after talking some of the issues out, and was ready to sleep off the days frustrations, but then Finn woke up in tantrum mode at 10.  I went in to try and console him, thinking he had a bad dream, but he just yelled and threw his ducks at me.  I threw my hands in the air and told Roy it was all his.  Roy held Finn and tried to calm him down, but nothing seemed to help.  Suddenly, he caught sight of me next to him in our bed, and came right over and snuggled down in the bed right by his momma.  My angry, tired heart melted as he settled sweetly next to me.  I know he is going to test his limits and mine as he's growing, but I hope he knows that I will always be there to love and hold him, that he will always be MY little man no matter how frustrated he makes me.  It was a tender mercy from the Lord after a very long day, to have a sweet moment like that to remind me of all the love I hold for my little boy.