Tearful Threes?

Maybe you've heard of the "terrible twos." As far as I can tell, this does not exist. I asked a lot of people about this so-called period of life, and they all said, "three is worse." Oh great.

So now, I have a three-year-old. So far, this age is amazing. Lyla is joking and laughing with us, having long conversations with us, she's sharing more, being more gentle, becoming more independent and outgoing... a lot of good things. She is such a sweet, sweet girl.

Okay, but there are some parts that I might call terrible.. or rather, difficult and new. She has started lying. The amount of whining has increased exponentially. And add moping to the list of fun behaviors at this age.

But the worst part for me has been on a personal, emotional level. Lyla has always been a bit sensitive and very aware of and in-tune with her emotions. Now she can describe exactly what she is thinking and feeling, and in a lot of cases, it is heartbreaking.

When I used to come home while Lyla was with a sitter, she would say, "I cried." Now she says, "I missed you, I didn't want to be home if you weren't there." Like, really?! I just want to wrap my arms around her and never let her go. Of course, we would like it if Lyla would sleep in her own room... but she says, "I really don't want to be all by myself in here." Combine that with a extremely pathetic pouty face, and now she's got me in her room until she falls asleep, and then she later ends up in our bed. I remember once she said to Erik, "If you go back to sleep, I will be so sad." And her face just gets so sad when she says these things! She definitely has us wrapped around her little fingers.

One night she woke up screaming and crying. I ran in to comfort her, and she was trying to tell me something, but she couldn't string a sentence together because she was so upset. When she finally calmed down, she said, "They got Kallan!" I almost started crying. Lyla had just described to me, for the first time, a nightmare... in which someone "got" Kallan. I can't imagine what sort of nightmare she was having, I couldn't even bear to think about it.

All this to say, this age so far has me very teary eyed. I think I am experiencing for the first time a hard truth that I will be living with forever... you can't protect your child from every sadness, from every hurt. You just have to be there when those things come. I wish I could. I wish I could wrap her in a bubble of happiness and unicorns and butterflies and Dora the Explorer. But instead I will be waiting around with band-aids and hugs and kisses... and chocolate.