Driving me crazy!

My 2 yr old (3 months shy of 3) is driving me nutso! For the last several days, she has been so destructive and such a little trouble-maker! Every time I turn around, it seems, she has pulled something apart or gotten something out or dumped something on the floor. It's been mind-boggling to me! I talked with Ali yesterday and she said that Jackson has been especially difficult the last several days too.

Some of Tailyn's finer moments this wknd: she emptied out the hair band/barrette box into her bed (hundreds of bands and barrettes everywhere), she emptied Emma's water cup into her bed (had to strip her bed), she emptied their jewelry boxes into her bed, she took Addie's links apart at least 1o times (spreading the links all over the house), she ripped apart yet another book (happened to be a favorite of mine), she unsnapped Addie's cloth diapers (that I had spent a lot of time putting together), she dumped out my CDs, she took apart the scotch tape dispenser (taking the tape with her), she unrolled much of our painter's tape in her bed, she went into my desk drawer and took out a printer cartridge (turning all of her fingers black), she got into Emma's lipgloss and got it all over her face and hands and for the 100th time at least, she unrolled the toilet paper roll into a pile on the floor.

I put 2 and 2 together and realized that after several days of warm temperatures and sunshine, we got hit with a major cold blast on Thursday afternoon (including a March snowfall!). It's been cold for the last 4 days and we've been cooped up inside again. So, my theory is that because Tailyn and Jackson had been outside and not exposed to the usual inside chemicals, their bodies rebelled when they got cooped up again this wknd. I don't know why Tailyn turns destructive and into a horrible listener or why Jackson breaks the car windsheild with his foot (for no apparent reason). But I do know that their behaviors seemed to get worse when they were cooped up inside again.

So, even though it's not going to be super warm today, I'm going to get Tailyn outside for the fresh air and make sure that she gets a chance to blow off some steam! Even though she doesn't really hold the Autistic diagnosis anymore, it doesn't mean that she can't regress in her progress. It's a battle every day for her and we're definitely winning it, but it's only with a lot of effort. We can't slack off on her diet or anything. It's too dangerous for her!

I also learned a valuable parenting lesson this wknd. It's important that in the midst of some really bad behavior to find something to praise the child about. If you keep yelling at them or tearing their behavior down, you strip them of their confidence and then they have no motivation to be good. So, I need to be careful with my kids to make sure to praise them every chance I get. And I'm on the look out for some good things that I can give Tailyn for her to take apart and not get into trouble for!

Do your eyes light up when your child comes into the room? They notice if they don't and it kills their self-esteem. I need to remind myself of this every day!