Introduction to the threes

I am so glad that parents are not alone in the parenting journey! Before my son turned three, I had gathered from mom friends that the threes might be interesting. And so far, I haven't been disappointed. Since turning three, my son's ears have stopped working, his obedience has broken, and his vocabulary has sky-rocketed. He has also started doing more science experiments, or should I say, social science experiments. Friday night was one of them.

My son was never the type of child to pull things out of cabinets when he was a baby and toddler. I thought I had escaped the messes. He made up for it Friday evening. He and sister were playing quietly in their room. Sister was in her crib, while my son played. My husband and I were in our room, enjoying adult time. Suddenly my daughter started crying. I assumed, based on the time of day, that she was ready for bed. However, when I walked into their room, I was horrified. Buried amongst every since piece of clothing that she owns was my nine-month-old, looking extremely pitiful. During the silence I was enjoying, my three-year-old had emptied the entire contents of his sister's dresser.

Seriously, what is a parent to do? I did the only thing I knew to do - I laughed and my son had to clean out his sister's crib and go to bed. The next morning however, he helped me put all her clothes back into her dresser. I don't think he will be doing that again for a while.

While I knew the threes would probably be more challenging than the twos, no one told me that they would be more imaginative. I have had some very interesting conversations with my son lately.

Sunday, on the way to church, we had the following conversation.

Son (panic sound in voice): You forgot the cash.
Mommy: What cash?
Son: The cash for the paperwork.
Mommy (laughing): What paperwork?
Son: The paperwork for Uncle J.
Mommy (seriously amused at this conversation and wanting to take it as far as it would go): Oh. What does Uncle J use the paperwork for?
Son: Privacy.
Mommy: ...

And then there was Monday as we were driving home.

Son: We need to go fast.
Mommy: Why do we need to go fast?
Son: We need to run fast in the car.
Mommy: Why?
Son: To get away from the green spiders.
Mommy (surprised)? The green spiders?
Son (very enthusiastically): Yeah!
Mommy: Have you seen any green spiders lately?
Son: No.
Mommy (enjoying his new-found imagination): How big are these spiders?
Son: I don't know.
Mommy: Are they big or small?
Son: Um, company.
Mommy: ...

So to any mothers who haven't had a three-year-old yet, while the threes may bring some challenges that you haven't faced yet, they may also bring an active imagination. You might also get chased by green spiders that are the size of company.