And then came Shane

Weston has always been a great kid: he never put anything in his mouth, rarely had tantrums, and is easily re-directed from less-than desirable activities. I am a bit of a book nerd and have read a lot about early childhood development and parenting techniques. And, I have always thought that surely all this good behavior must be thanks to me and my superior skills. I use attachment parenting and positive discipline techniques, and obviously all that respect and gentleness produces spectacular results, right? Smug, much? And then came Shane.

Shane, Shane... what to say about Shane? Shane puts everything in his mouth and has a howling, floor pounding tantrum several times a day. He doesn't want his diaper on, he doesn't want it off. He doesn't want to go to bed, he doesn't want to get up. No, no, no, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! All day long. And persistent? He is very determined. He loves to climb up on the table and other furniture. The gentle technique to deter him is to distract him and remove him from his treacherous perch until he gets the idea that he's not supposed to climb up there. So that's what I do, over and over and over. It sounds really easy, doesn't it? But not so much when he is clinging like a chimp and shrieking like a hyena. Then, when I oh-so-gently get him off,he arches backward and flails, and likely as not, whacks me a good one in the face.

In light of all this new evidence, I'm forced to conclude I'm not such a great parent after all. It's really quite a shocking turn of events. Anyone have a book I can borrow?