Tuesday, August 7, 2007

My Sick Mac and Toddler-Tude

I am writing this post from a pc and I am am reminded why I like Mac's so much. At the moment, my mac is living at the apple store for a couple of days until they can figure out what is wrong with it. Last night it would not turn on and I almost cried. Today I really realized how attached I am to it and to the internet. (so sad..and maybe a little compulsive!) They are almost sure that my hardrive is not damaged and I am really praying for this. I have not backed up my pictures since April. A couple of weekends ago, my mother in law asked if I had all my pictures backed up. Famous last words. Next time, I will take that as a sign from God that something is about to go wrong.

So, both of my babies have been acting up. The mac will be fixed, but the other one...well...we are seing the beginnings of what I call "toddler-tude". Two hours up to Mansfield and two back, my little sweet angel screamed bloody murder. He is starting to resent being held in place by straps. Keegan has also learned to hit when mad, and to pout on the ground until you get him what he wants. Where do they learn this from??? Not to mention, throwing food on the ground and his sippie cup. Today we were in the apple store, and I had my first occurence with a screaming child. I was the mom that everyone was looking at to shut her kid up. He wanted to get out of his stroller and crawl around, which of course, I would not let him. Straps are not his friend right now. So, while the tech guy was explaining all this mumbo jumbo about my sick mac, I had a red faced toddler in my arms kicking and screaming.

So, tonight I am trying to recoup from my day. The last time I had one of these days was a couple months ago, and I will be so excited if it does not revisit anytime soon. I called Jonathan and said, "Tonight needs to be a leave at 5 p.m. day" and the loving husband that he is did just that. He even offered to take Keegan and drive him around while he looked at sites, but unfortunately Keegan hates the straps.

I am not sure how to enter into the days of seeing the sinful nature creep out of Keegan and it makes me so sad. My sweet one was born with a sinful nature and I can do nothing to stop it. It makes me feel so hopeless and so angry that such a young baby can be corrupted by the very thing that we are corrupted by. I can only pray that one day God will capture His heart and Keegan will seek after Him relentlessly. In the mean time, my responsibilty as a parent is to model for him Jesus in patience and love while teaching him about our loving Savior who can rescue Keegan from himself.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I feel your pain on the MAC! I just bought my first MAC 3 months ago and am addicted! I work on a windows based computer all day at work and am seriously not liking it at all!

On Keegan, keep the faith! He is going through a stage right now or should I stay starting the one year old phase right now. I always say to take these type of situations and use them towards your benefit. You will learn just as much as he does!

Kim

Anonymous said...

Next time call me when your mac goes down. I know quite a few things to try before resorting to the apple genius bar.

Amanda said...

I can so relate to this! Jackson was such a good car rider until I faced him forward. Being able to see me made him very, very opinionated in the car.

Family W said...

Oh I so relate to the toddler issues. My sweet baby girl has started getting angry and throwing those occasional tantrums. She is never around other babies her age and she learned to bite a few weeks ago. She bit my younger son (11) when he went to pick her up. I stopped and really tried to think why she would do this and the only conclusion I came to is, it was the only release she could think of at the time. That frustration had to go somewhere. THANK GOODNESS she hasn't done it a third time, only twice, and I pray that it doesn't happen again. As for the people in the store, they can just look on. I will not discipline JUST because someone is looking or because I feel the pressure of 'What these people must think of me!' I learned that lesson when my boys were little. Now, I deal with each situation individually with as much wisdom as I can muster up at the moment. Thats why I pray each morning, Lord please help me with these kids! Give me the wisdom I need for each situation that arises! :) I'm sorry this is such a long comment. I just read your post and completely understood. I'm right there with ya! God Bless.

P.S. One thing that helps us with the car seat is keeping a small canvas bag of toys that are reserved for the car only. She only gets them while in the car. It helps to occupy her busy mind.......at least most of the time! :)

Anonymous said...

Hang in there mom! But, stand firm - remember you are the boss!

Sorry about the mac!

And all of this will soon pass!!

LMS

kittyhox said...

I know what you mean about the Toddler-Tude. My 14 month old seems to be going through the terrible twos very very early. Any form of "no" usually results in a mini-tantrum. In fact, sometimes he'll just be playing by himself and something will set him off and he'll fling himself on the floor and cry for no apparent reason. Something frustrated him, I guess.

I just ignore all the behavior because I honestly don't know what I could do to "discipline" him at this early age! I've decided to call it "self-expression" and not encourage it by acknowledging it! I don't know what else to do!

No one tells you that little ones start revealing their sin natures so early in life!

Lauren said...

I was on the bus yesterday morning on my way in to work and saw another great example of toddler-tude (or really, little kid-tude). This British family was also on the bus, headed into town to tour Boston. Well, one mother asked her little girl (who had to be 5 or 6) to come sit in her lap so that a grown-up could have her seat. The little girl quietly refused. The mother told her to do it multiple times, gave her all kinds of options of where she could sit, and finally, she pulled her up out of the seat and handed her to the uncle who took her and held her, at which point the girl started screaming bloody murder. The mom was looking at me and the uncle apologetically, saying, "I've never seen her like this!"

Personally, I was kind of amused. I guess it's because it's a hint of what I've got coming. The lady next to me pointed at my belly and said, "Is this your first?" "Yes." "Well, now you know what to expect!"

I thought it was also interesting to watch the girl's reactions to her mother's constant, elevating requests, and I was really glad the mom didn't just let it go but made her obey, even though the little girl started screaming on a packed bus. It was a good example of doing the right thing and making your child obey/teaching them the bigger lesson, even though she is embarrassing you. :)

Janelle and Ella said...

The last paragragh was VERY encouraging! Thanks for the reminder of being an example of Jesus' patience in their lives.

Lauren said...

By the way, Macs do rock. We just got a new MacBook Pro and we lerve it.

FitzandMolly said...

go ahead & do what you need to do to correct him. i had to start correcting moriah (like telling her it was not okay to throw food on the floor & redirecting her to just leave it on the tray) when she was around 10 months. you'd be surprised how much they understand. just be consistent and patient, and he will eventually get it. waiting too long though will make it harder to correct the behavior later.

Kristin said...

What a precious description of our calling as mother's to our children. Like Janelle, I am grateful to read your words and be so encouraged.
Loveoyou

Kristin said...

What a precious description of our calling as mother's to our children. Like Janelle, I am grateful to read your words and be so encouraged.
Loveoyou

FordeFam said...

I can definitely identify with you as well!!! :) I was dealing with some new things with Zoe's attitude about a year ago and someone suggested that I read a book called Don't Make Me Count To Three!!! :) I think the author's name is Ginger Pullman, but it was hillarious and VERY encouraging!!! It is strange to see our children go through the change in attitude! :) The book was very much a comfort and deals with how to get to the heart issues of our children as a Christian parent!!! I need to find my copy, since I haven't been able to locate it since our move (in January)!!! Ha! I think it's in a box in our storage thingy in the backyard! :) Blessings!!!

The Langfords said...

Well, my sweet baby girl is about a year older than your sweet baby boy and I have to tell you it's not over yet. We still have the "moments" that I refer to as "meltdowns". But when they are sweet...they are oh so sweet :-) Hang in there and give lots of kisses!

FordeFam said...

Oh, and we still have attitude issues too...I was reading my comment and thinking that it sounded like we didn't! It was just then that they started with her! :) Now it's just spreading to our middle child!!! Hehehe! Just thought I would add to my other thought! :) I'm sure you didn't doubt this though! ;)