Don't Call It A Comeback...

So, who doesn't post to their blog in over a YEAR?!?! Answer: THIS Girl.  Anyway, I have just been so busy I forgot I even had a blog!!!  Nobody seemed to be reading my posts, and I have been trying to figure out a way to increase traffic.  I like to share my stories with other parents of deaf/HOH kids.  Mostly because I like to hear myself talk (watch myself type?) but also to lend support to other families as so many have done for my family. 

These days, Zoe is a rowdy three year old with her own opinions, thoughts, feelings, and EMOTIONS!  Where did they even come up with the saying "terrible twos"?  I thought I was the perfect parent because MY little girl ate anything i put in front of her (well, she still does) and never whined, cried or threw fits at age two.  I thought for SURE that we were just so awesome that Zoe had no reason to be a brat. WELL, NOW... that was until she turned THREE.  Listen to me and listen good- THREE YEAR OLDS ARE OF THE DEVIL.  I have never been so stressed, nervous, embarrassed, frustrated... than I am now that Zoe is three.  She is vigilantly defiant, unyielding in her resolve to make my life a living HELL.  She makes the simplest public outing, like say, to a grocery store or clothing store something I DREAD. Just thinking about it makes me bite my nails and break out in a cold sweat.  I used to be all "She can't hheeeaaaarrrr, you guys... be NICE to her!" when she was 2.  Now, I KNOW what she can and cannot hear, but she still puts on an Oscar-worthy act like she couldn't hear a freaking truck back up through a building.

Me (from the other room, no less!): "Zoe!"
Zoe: WHAT?!?!
Me: "Excuse Me?!?!"
Zoe: "Yes, Mommy?"
Me: "Come clean up your toys."
Zoe: ".........."
Me: "Zoe?"
Zoe: "......"
Me: "ZOE!!!!"
Zoe: "..."
Me: (rounding the corner into her room) "Zoe Simone, I told you to come clean up your toys in the living room".
Zoe: (Her back turned toward me) "........"
Me: "ZOE!!!"
Zoe: "Hehehehehehehehehe"!!!!! (runs out of the room)

See, she thinks it's a GAME.  She thinks that just because I am a dumbass I used to be so easy on her, she can still play the "I Can't Heeeaaarrr Yyyoooouuuu" game. I have found that, especially with a child like Zoe, you have to be a lot more stern when you are disciplining them... because they think you are a sucker.  Anyone else have any stories about their children and discipline?