I Have THAT Child

This morning I opened my inbox and the daily devotional waiting for me made me laugh.  It was about my child.

 I love my kids, but I haven’t always liked being a mom.

Once my boys became toddlers who wouldn’t listen to me or do what I told them, I kind of panicked. I looked around at other moms who seemed to know what they were doing and wondered, “What is wrong with me?”

Their children seemed to listen when they told them no. Why wouldn’t my child keep his hands to himself or stay in the cart at the grocery store? Why did he not understand when I told him I could not buy everything his little hand could touch? And how come no one told me that being a mom would be so hard?
 
Yes, my child is currently the one that tries to wiggle out of the shopping cart restraints and screams at the top of her lungs when we are in the store.  I'm not embarrassed by it, but I still have moments of utter defeat when I can't think of the best way to handle the situation.  Raising my voice doesn't seem to help and Kellyn has a mind of her own.  Everyday she reminds me that she'll be turning 2 this fall.  At almost 19 months she's already embarking on the terrible twos.  Which wouldn't seem so bad except her older brother decided he wanted to leave the age of two by going through the terrible twos again.
 
Somedays I feel like I'm at my wit's end wanting to pull my hair out.  Somedays I just want a do-over because I feel like I've failed at being a mom.  I keep chugging along, though, like The Little Engine that Could.  As a mom, what else can you do?
 
Unfortunately, the devotional never explained the best method of dealing with the screaming acrobat in the shopping cart while in the middle of the store without causing other shoppers to call Child Protective Services.  So, I'll keep chugging along, taking it one day at a time, all while trying to figure out how to explain to a 19 month old that if she doesn't sit in the cart like the sweet, little girl I know she can be she'll never make it to the age of 2.