A Glimpse at the Highs & Lows of a 3 Year Old

Today was just a perfect example, so I had to notate it.

Being that it is Tuesday, it is a nursery school day, yay! Koen woke up at a normal time and was full of energy and gumption this morning. We were all quite thankful that he was heading off to nursery school for the morning. It was definitely one of those days where he needed some new distractions and the opportunity to run out a lot of energy.



My mom and I and Tavin walked down to the school to pick him up. It is a chilly day here, but the sun is warm and the sky is absolutely perfectly blue, so we really enjoyed the crisp, fresh walk. Koen was happy as always to see us, although he always looks like he would be fine with staying at school for another few hours. He just loves it!


We started our walk out the driveway of the school and I told him we were going out to lunch. He threw an absolute fit! "I don't want to go to the restaurant, I just want to eat at home." This, of course, makes me feel horrible because we dont' really have to eat out, I just thought it would be fun since Mom is in town, etc. I stand firm though since I've packed food for he and Tavin and Mom and I are excited about it. He is pouting and crying up until we get to the front door of the restaurant. Then he runs inside, picks out a table and is perfectly happy and ready to order. Oh how bizarre this 3-year-old stage is. There is just no rationale for it!


Here's the best part... While we are waiting to get our food Koen reminds us that we should pray before we eat and then offers to pray for the meal. He quickly launches into, "Dear Jesus, we thank you for our Lovely Lord (not sure where he gets this phrase, I think it's because I usually say, "thank you for the lovely day) and we thank you for our food and that I stopped whining and crying and that we could eat at this restaurant. In Jesus' name, Amen." Priceless!


I wish I could say that was the end of the 3-year-old behavior for the morning, but as we left the restaurant he got curious and rebellious (a tough combination), so that kind of ruined the last few moments as we tried to get on coats, etc. and get out the door. The walk home was nice for the most part too with both kids in good spirits. Although, Koen wanted to walk the last block, which was fine, but he didn't "listen and obey" about staying with us, so he lost his DVD privilege for the day. That never goes over well. Thankfully, the stink about that was shorter than usual because Gramma is here and she played hide and seek with him when we got home for a little while before nap.


Here's a picture of the boys keeping busy while we waited for our lunch at Juicebox Cafe in Shadyside...