Terrible twos???

My baby,Liam must have been the easiest baby ever, he was a first time mother's dream. Sleeping well,eating well, crying only when in need, and smiles for days. It was easy to tell early on that Liam had a great and rare personality. He was one of those "old soul" babies. We had a couple of years to get to know eachother before he hit the two year mark, of which I had always been warned. When Liam was about 2.5.years old was when I first started noticing signs of the terrible two tantrums. As a first time mom I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. The day that Liam threw a 45 minute long tantrum (kicking and screaming) with no break made me tired, made me sad for him. I could not console him, he just kept going. And for what? I told him he could not have a juice box when I had just given him some milk. Over a juice box? 45 minutes of screaming at the top of your lungs......over a JUICE BOX? One of the most difficult things to remember as a parent is that children still have years to go before they grasp and use common sense. Although, I'm sure we've all known grown adults who we know are fully capable of having a juice box meltdown. Anyway, this tantrum shook me. I wasn't so sure we were just dealing with those "terrible twos" that everyone goes through. At the time,I had no idea that I would be spending the next few years trying to use his age as a good excuse for his often defiant behaviors. In retrospect,I hear myself, "I know, he's just being a 2 year old", "just being a 3 year old", "just being a 4 year old" thinking the whole time that one day id be saying, "well hes only 30!" Ugh. I have to say that as Liam grew to age 5 we got to see him become a really wonderful boy. He has compassion for others, an amazing sense of humor, his fathers good looks, and his mothers lack of grace. And then there is "OtherLiam" this is a child that I live with who often times does not resemble my loving little boy. He throws toys and books, he hits and kicks and bites and screams,he hates you and me and everyone in his path. It feels like someone at some point hypnotised my baby and when he hears the word "NO" he is to react like a raging tornado. Hugs are the only antidote, but you have to wait until you feel safe enough to go in for the embrase. Most of the time, Liam is just a normal boy with a lot of extra energy and a lack of listening skills. He makes friends easily, he retains things that he learns at school, infact his grades are above average, despite him being the youngest kid in class. So we keep our family on this little roller coaster and try to shade little sister (Emily, age 3) from the volcano explosions. And we do what we can day by day to keep our family as happy and together as possible. One of the toughest things to handle is that there is so much judgement to be passed on the Adhd diagnosis. Everyone has an oppinion. But the parents, therapist, teachers, and psychiatrists who are all working as a team just to get this kid through life one day at a time are really the only oppinions that matter to the family. And imagine, this blog hasn't even touched the epic discussion of kids on meds! But as this mama-blogger is also a pharmacy technician, I'm sure we'll get there. ;-)