Happiest Toddler on the Block

Seriously, I have heard of this book and finally decided to pick it up? WHy? Because my son has been ornery. He's been throwing fits. He's crying a lot. He is stubborn. He doesn't listen. He does the opposite of what you ask him or tell him to do. He breaks nearly everything he touches. He flies in and flies out. When he's happy, he's happy but when he's upset, you will definitely know it b/c it's loud and in your face. He's And my patience was wearing very thin. I was immediately drawn after the first few pages into reading. Dr. Karp then begins discussing how toddlers can be classified into three different temperament groups: easy (40% of children), (Timid), and Challenging (10% of children). He described Baylen EXACTLY when talking about challenging temperaments. I couldn't believe it, there it was staring back at me: what I've been waiting to hear. Reading it made me smile and gigle. That is exactly who Mister Mister is: busy, when he up, he's way up, but when he's down, he's wayyy down; stubborn; persistant; emotional; destructive (almost always not intentional); flies in and flies out of places; everyone has to hear him/her; really cares about others; likes all the attention on them: likes people to laugh at him/her; language was limited as a 1-2 yr. old; rough; has to touch everything; impulsive; and the list goes on. It was interesting because although this book presents just one opinion, Karp said that parents of all three kinds of children are good parents, but parents of challenging children are saints. haha I don't know about that, but it sure is kind of him to say that! ;)

Now I'm getting to the good part of the book. Why? Because Dr. Karp has solidified my belief that our son is not the norm. And he's not. So it makes me feel better knowing I was not crazy. I'll continue to read the rest of the book to discover any tips we haven't tried already. I'm not by any means saying that he's a bad child. He's not. He's a good boy--passionate, funny, smart, goofy, and knows what he wants. He is who he is and I want to make sure we are doing everything we can to support his journey successfully as he transitions into a little boy.