Terrible Twos on Tuesday

I'm not sure who is to blame, better yet if anyone needs/should be blamed for our rough night.

Parents first, Michael and I let Joshua stay up on Monday night WAY too late (something like 10ish?.)
We paid for it.

When we got to school Joshua threw a fine fit over eating goldfish for breakfast. Throwing food, time out, screaming, and tears were all part of this tantrum. As I left his classroom, I may have had a tear of guilt myself.

After we got home that night, I asked Joshua what he wanted for supper. He opened the refrigerator with help, and after searching in his normal spots (fruit drawer first/ veggies second) he was unsatisfied with his findings and kept looking. He discovered the eggs... I let him hold one, but told him that they would break so we needed to be careful. Despite my better judgement, I decided to make an egg. I knew he didn't really care for them, but my "genius" idea was to have him watch and help. I pulled up the stool and let him climb up and watch me crack the egg. He got to stir them, scoop some butter for the pan, and watch as we scrambled the egg. I plopped it on a plate. He looked at it with disgust. Being over hungry myself, I at the egg. Michael made actual dinner for him and I which we then offered to Joshua. Again, uninterested.

I decided to try for the jammies because we were getting nowhere with food. Michael and I, as well as the staff at CTK, discipline with the Love and Logic philosophy (controlled options to avoid power struggles.) Love and Logic usually works wonderfully when used properly (perhaps my empathy in offering choices may not have been what it could have/should have been.) I ended up choosing his jammies and then wrestled with him to get them onto his body. (Jammie time for us has recently been a struggle anyway as Joshua tries to balance independence and reliance on others.)

After the jammies were on, and the screaming had subsided, Joshua remembered that he was hungry. Foolishly I tried to find him something else to eat rather than offering what we had for dinner. Nothing was right and the night continued to spiral during teeth brushing.

There were sorry-s and snuggles before I put him into bed, but no reciprocated, "I love you." My heart was broken. I struggled with parental frustrations with an over-tired two year old. Mistakes were made... hopefully some lessons were learned by him and by me.