Mommy is Sorry!

Ry had a cold from last Saturday to the early part of this week so it has been a pretty tiring week for me. I have been dealing with his throw-ups, runny nose and phlegmy coughs - all part of a mum's job. On Sunday, his cold seemed to be at its worst when we brought him over to our Chinese neighbour's apt for dinner, an invitation that has been extended many times so that we did not want to postpone it further. He was fussy and kept crying and refused to have any food. It was a pretty embarrassing situation as we just simply wolfed down the sumptuous meal that our neighbours cooked and sort of glossed over their questions and their attempts of any conversations and left the place asap so as to pacify Ry. I don't think I remembered what I ate during the dinner.

When we were back home and Ry is finally put to sleep after a dose of Tylenol, K then commented how fortunate are we as Ry's parents. This was a comment made partly because Ry has always been an easy child. We usually do not run into the usual toddler problems like not eating his food or throwing tantrums when we are having dinner or out doing our shopping. Ry usually eats most of the things I feed him and even when he doesn't like the food that we are eating in restaurants, he will be contented with his Cheerios and be able to sit through the dinner with us, making very little fuss. We have seen how some other parents are unable to eat their dinner or shop with their little one. And therefore, this is the first time that we had to rush through a dinner.

K's comments were made a bit too early though. Ry has become a little tyrant these past few days. He refused to touch any of the food I gave him and insisted on his beloved Cheerios. Hmmm. ... sound like one of my friend's daughter. I tried to starve him and refused to give him Cheerios so that he would eat the proper lunch and dinner but in the end, it always ended with cries and finally give-ups from me. Not only that, I guess I was really tired of feeding him, seeing him pushing away all his food and throwing away all the efforts that I put into preparing him a special meal that I finally gave in and scolded him and punished him yesterday. It was really painful and pitiful to see him crying. Although I hugged him afterwards and promised myself that I would not flare up at him again, I guessed the stress and frustration took over me again today during lunch that I did it again. So here I am, saying "I'm sorry!" to Ry for my inability to control my temper and not having greater patience.

K and I strive really hard to be good and loving parents but when I reflected on our actions these few days, I think we also tend to be really strict and authoritarian. So after a short discussion this afternoon, we decided not to be too harsh on Ry and we both agree that he has been a really good boy afterall, despite his recent tantrums. Maybe, as a 20 mth old boy, he has progressed into the terrible two phase.