Back in the deep end

I've come to realize being a mother is kind of like being at school, just as you have finally gotten the grade down like a champ and you acing tests and are top of your class, that grade is over and they send you to the next level which throws you off course and you spend months trying to figure it all out again and as soon as you do, their they go and push you to the next grade again.

Only difference is in school you get textbooks and teachers and rules on what is right and what is wrong.

I thought I had finally gotten the swing of this whole parenting thing, I was surviving it and most days I even felt like I was doing a great job. Aiden was finally sleeping through, at any point it was bed time/nap time I would put him in his cot, close the door and he would go to sleep quietly. He was happy and friendly and didn't whine.

And then I was upgraded.

I am back to waking a good few times a night.

He fights nap time.

Fights bath time.

Throws tantrums.

Screams for you to pick him up.

Throws toys at you.

Pinches.

Bites.

Smacks.

Refuses to get dressed.

Runs away if it involves anything that means routine.

I'm back to hiding in the bathroom with a bottle of wine.

I know at some point I need to stop and reevaluate this stage in my sons life and make quick adjustments to his routine and discipline in order to survive and in order for him not to get any worse but sometimes motherhood just kicks you in the ass, single motherhood is starting to show it's true hardships and I somehow have found myself in the deep end again, swimming slowly back to where I can stand.