Teething x 2

Let me tell you about the fun times at my house recently. The previous posts are basically distractions from the main event. If the title didn't cue you in already, yes--Nora cut her first tooth last week. I noticed it on the way to Boston but she's such a good-natured baby that I didn't really realize that was going on. But it did explain why she was waking up in the middle of the night when she had been sleeping through the night since she was about 6 weeks old. The times 2 is referring to my other girl, Corinne. Corinne is finally getting her canines. Corinne is one of those children who shows her emotions to the extreme. When she is happy she is bursting with excitement, jumps up and down and gives everyone hugs and kisses. On the flip side, when she is upset she cries at the top of her lungs and screams like a banshee. Maybe you think I'm over-exaggerating. You obviously weren't there at the doctor's office with me last week. The problem started with having to wake the kids up from naps to get to the office the required 15 minutes prior to the actual appointment time. They all were a little cranky, but cooperative in getting there. As I was checking in, Corinne asked for some fruit snacks. I told her she needed to wait a few minutes for me to finish and then I would give her some. The meltdown started. She began whining for it and crying for it. I quickly finished checking in and pushed the stroller (I make sure to bring the double stroller to keep Corinne strapped down and in place so I won't lose her). I promptly give her the fruit snacks after we settle in the waiting room to appease her and hopefully end the tantrum. Still crying, she picks up the fruit snacks and throws them on the floor. Since it appears she doesn't really want them I pick them up and put them away. The crying and screaming continues, "I want my noot nacks!" Also note that of my three children, Corinne's voice has the highest decible reading by far. For some reason the lobby happened to be full at this time with several parents staring at me as though I'm the worst mother in the world. As I feel their eyes boring into my skull I decide to try giving her a fruit snack. Again it is thrown on the floor so again I pick it up and put it away. Nora begins to fuss so I pick her up while attempting to ignore Corinne's tantrum in the hopes that it will end or that she will be distracted by the cartoons on the television. Ten minutes past my appointment time and I'm still waiting in the waiting room with a screaming child. A nurse comes down the hall and approaches me and asks me what the problem with my child is because other parents are asking her questions. I tell her that Corinne is tired and throwing a tantrum. I am asked why I can't pick her up and comfort her? Seriously? I have a baby on my lap currently and even if I did pick Corinne up, she is at that point where she doesn't want to be on my lap and would hit me and try to squirm away and would still be crying. I mention that a change in scenery would help since my appointment time was scheduled for 10 minutes ago! She didn't have a response to that and promptly walked away. Has no one ever witnessed a two-year old tantrum before? It obviously is never enjoyable, but the kid is obviously irrational and there's no reasoning with her. At home I can just put her in her bed and she calms down almost immediately. Unfortunately, there is no bed in public. If this episode was not a lesson in patience, I don't know what is. Patience not only with my child (which I can handle) but patience with strangers who judge me based on a one time incidence. I've been to that doctor's office numerous other times with never a problem with all 3 kids in tow. I know I shouldn't let it bother me but it has shaken up my confidence in my parenting ability. I would have liked to seen anyone else handle the same situation without yelling at the child (which is usually what I see happen in that doctor's office). Maybe that's the approved method with the military, but it is not something I do. Just another fun episode in the life of a mother! I can't wait to have all the teeth in on all of my children!