The Davis Family: Thanksgiving and reality

First, the Thanksgiving stuff. We are so so blessed. Dan has a wonderful job, we have two healthy children, a beautiful home, and generally nothing to want for. We spent Thanksgiving in St. George with family and had a great time.

Now to reality! The last couple of months with Camden have been quite a challenge. He has at least 10 tantrums before 10 am. And no, I'm not exaggerating. The majority of them consist of fake crying and a whole lot of whining. It's driving me nuts. He does not seem to appreciate much of anything. After a treat or gift he simply asks for another and when there isn't another, he throws a massive fit. It's making the holidays difficult when I try to plan fun activities and not a single one is good enough. I know I've lot my temper too much and I feel awful when I hear "You aren't being nice" and "I don't like you" from my 3 yr old. I thought that was supposed to be a pre teen issue. We've tried both positive reinforcement and punishment and it makes no difference. He won't stay in bed so he's sleep deprived and that is adding to the issue. He wants to be a baby all day, getting in Wesley's car seat and crib and speaking in one word sentences. Anything we do for Wes he wants done exactly the same way for him.

Ok, that was a long rant. I just feel like I put up all these pictures of fun things and hear a lot of "your such an amazing mom!" and it feels completely fake. Yes, I love my kids. I try to create memories for them but lately, I yell and "check out" a whole lot more than I'd like. So, I'm not sure what you're supposed to do with all this but it feels better giving an accurate description of us right now.