Thoughts on three

I was downloading photos off my phone last weekend. This was a chore that I had been putting off for some time, but finally had to do because I'd like to move forward with our family scrapbooks. While the new photos were in flight, I took a few minutes to check out some of the older photos that we have. I ended up looking at my son as a three-year-old.

I remember that time quite vividly: Of thinking he looked more like a little boy than a baby. Of how much he talked. Of how much independence he wanted.

While I'd like to think that every age with my son is a fun age - and it is for various reasons - three was also a roller coaster.

A recently published study describes the reasons why parents lose confidence in their abilities to raise their children. While the write up is focused on a lack of support systems and screen time battles - both very valid topics on their own - I was struck more by parents reporting that the time in which they start to lose confidence is when their child is age three.

Yeah...that definitely sounds right to me.

Three is hard. For the first time you have this really independent little creature who can tell you what he is thinking all the time. And there is no filter. A three-year-old's sole purpose most days is to see how many times he can successfully rebel against the rules and system you've put in place for them to be safe and healthy. (Nap time? No. Vegetables at meal time? No. Be nice to your sibling? No. Potty training? NO!)

It makes perfect sense to me that parents lose our confidence at about that age.

There's not an easy hack to get through three. Although, it does help to have some honest parent friends who have been through it already to reassure you that you are not crazy, all three-year-olds are monsters, and that they won't ever remember this age and the time you lost your temper because they were throwing oatmeal at you on the day you had a big presentation at work.

And, with a little distance from it, three will be an age that you can look back on and remember the good times.

What was the hardest age for you to parent? Share in the comments.