Two Year Old Madness

Josh is a good kiddo. He's generally sweet and already has a pretty good sense of humor. He's been extremely patient with Cole and all the changes he's brought to our family. (He's only hit him twice!) He likes to eat, play on the computer, and loves loves loves to play outside. I can hardly get a picture of him, he's always on the move.

We love Josh.

But sometimes... sometimes...

Well, sometimes Josh is two. And by two I mean determined. And by determined I mean stubborn.

And by stubborn I mean STUBBORN.

This stubbornness, coupled with being tired and/or hungry can lead to what I call Crazy Mad Josh.

Crazy Mad Josh doesn't visit all too often. (Thank goodness!) Crazy Mad Josh makes no sense at all. Crazy Mad Josh generally wants something he most certainly cannot have. Crazy Mad Josh is loud. Crazy Mad Josh cries. Crazy Mad Josh freaks out. Crazy Mad Josh is unreasonable. Seriously, insanely unreasonable.

Crazy Mad Josh often ends up in time out on his bed.

For example:

-A few weeks ago the boys were playing in the back yard with the hose on. All was fine for about an hour, when Spencer decided it would be fun to spray Josh until he cried. I had to step in and referee, decreeing that Spencer was done playing for a while. Josh said he wanted to go inside as well, so I turned off the hose. We got inside. He decided he wanted to play outside with the hose. So I turned it back on. Then he decided he wanted to come in again. So I turned the hose off. Then he wanted back out, hose on. Then he came inside again, but freaked out when I went to turn the hose off. He had decided that he was going to play inside but that the hose Had. To. Be. On. No matter what. Crazy Mad Josh soon entered the scene. Crying, screaming, body flinging, etc. soon ensued. I explained to him that the hose could not be on if no one was playing with it; it wasted water and I didn't need the lawn to flood. No matter to him; the tantrum continued. For a good 20 minutes. At full blast.

At which point I decided Crazy Mad Josh needed to go into time out on his bed.

-I was nursing Cole in his room earlier this week when Josh came in and sat on the guest bed. He started studying the pictures of the Wild Things on the wall. I asked him if he liked them, and he said yes. He studied them some more. The following conversation ensued:

Josh: Why are they black?
Me: The pictures aren't black. Oh - you mean the frames? Why are the picture frames black?
Josh: Yes. Why are they black?

It was early in the morning. Josh had been up late the night before. I could sense Crazy Mad Josh coming on, so I tried to frame my answer so that he wouldn't make an appearance.
Me: That's just the color I bought.

And then I made a fatal mistake. I don't know why I said this, but I did.
Me: Black is the color I wanted.

Never never NEVER tell Crazy Mad Josh what you want. Because it's all about what Crazy Mad Josh wants.
Josh: NO!! NO!! I don't want black! I don't want it! Baaahhh!!!

I thought about reasoning with him, but quite frankly, reasoning with Crazy Mad Josh is like trying to reason with an insane person. Because Crazy Mad Josh is an insane person. Figuring the damage was already done, I decided to poke Crazy Mad Josh with the proverbial stick and asked:
Me: Why? What color do you want?
Josh: Red! I wanted red pictures. Red red RED!!!!!!! Bahhhhhhh!!!

A glorious tantrum followed, complete with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. For a good 20 minutes. (Which is apparently my threshold for tantrums.)

At which point I decided Crazy Mad Josh needed to go into time out on his bed.

Oh Crazy Mad Josh, how you entertain me.