Parenting: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

   Example: Jekyll- Hailey woke up from her nap, so excited to see me, she was all smiles and giggles, I can't give her enough kisses when she's this cute! Hyde- I proceed to take her to the changing table, she's poopy (no big deal) but, as soon as I have removed the tabs from the diaper she furiously kicks her legs and lands both feet and a good portion of one leg in her poop. I struggle trying to hold both wriggling little legs together suspended in the air while I grab a wipe to clean her off before she inevitably tries to stick one of her feet in her mouth, she then reaches down and grabs a handful of pooh! All the meanwhile she is carrying on and fussing as though she hasn't been fed all day. She tries swiping at me (particularly my hair) a couple of times with her poopy hand. Don't freak out, I got her cleaned before any pooh covered extremity made it to her mouth!
   This is just one example of many occurences where a "switch" is flipped and my normally happy go lucky- easy as can be- could never do a thing wrong- daughter becomes this angry, demanding, nothing you can do will help, 20 pound savage. I'm not complaining or whining, growing up IS hard to do and sometimes as adults we forget that, and in these "Hyde" moments I try to think about how she must feel being completely dependent on others, and not having the ability to understand "give mommy just a minute sweetie". During the transition from being a carefree couple to parents, we have had our "Hyde" moments as well, I don't imagine even for a second that at the age Hailey is now, I could possibly comprehend exactly how she feels and thinks, it would be helpful if our memories went that far back, but they don't.
  I am definitely not saying I have a difficult child, in all honesty I feel like I've won the baby lottery, she truly is a very happy girl and I thank God for that everyday. She's so smart and easy going and when she does get upset, typically she very quickly forgets whatever grievance she had. My Mommy guilt is kicking in full force right now for even having written this post, lest anyone should think that Hailey is a heathen, it couldn't be farther from the truth. It's really my emotions, feelings and experiences that are the true " Jekyll and Hyde", not my daughter, she's just busy being a baby and learning about her strange new world!

This is not a new phenomenon or revelation to those of you who have been parents for a while, but it's a strangely wonderful awfully confusing beautiful new world for me!