Ever since we got back from South America, it’s like we are at peak level of “three going on thirteen/three-nager” land with Kaia. Every single thing I do seems to piss her off. When I try to wake her up in the morning, she screams and cries and refuses to eat breakfast. When I want to brush her teeth or comb her hair, she screams and runs away. Even at night when I try to get her up to pee at midnight, she might let me take her to pee, but then she throws a fit when it’s time to wipe.

Today after dinner, she asked if she could do a video chat with Chris’s parents, but he said no. This was the beginning of her tantrum, and it only got worse when it was time for me to give her a shower. I stripped her while she thrashed around. And then when it was time to put her in the bathtub, she refused to stand up and tried to lie down as best as she could. I had to keep trying to protect her head so that she didn’t accidentally bash it in while tantrumming. She ended up sitting almost the entire bath. Somehow, I successfully cleaned all parts of her despite her screaming, crying, and thrashing around almost the whole time. I was pretty proud of myself.

Being a parent is rewarding, but it’s also really thankless work that can be extremely tough. In moments when she’s screaming and crying and thrashing around everywhere and almost self-inflicting bodily harm, I have to try really hard to stay centered and not flip out or just give up. All I have to say is… I have no idea how people go through these tough phases with multiple kids — no idea.