The First Day cont'd

So how do I avoid getting frustrated with a three year old who never, ever does what I ask? And I'm not joking. He is really the kid who does the EXACT OPPOSITE of what I ask him to do.

He's gotten into the ice cream and the Klondike bars.
He won't leave the pets alone.

We have one dog, Frank, who has cancer and is dying and I am trying as best I can to care for him. Sweet Frank.  

But I'm fried. I want to cry all the time, I get so frustrated with Bec. I am angry with him almost all day long. Rarely, do I have a true break.

He doesn't nap.
He doesn't sleep in his own bed.
He won't let me talk to other people.
He hits me.
He yells at me.
I can't exercise.
I can't go out in public because he acts so awful that it's just not worth it.

So, how do I turn it around right now, in this moment?

I wish I had it in me to just let it slide but somehow I think I feel like he's getting the best of me. That he's "beat me" in some way, and I don't like to lose, ever.

I've sent him to his room because he won't leave Frank alone and won't stay out of the damn ice cream. But then he just called out, "Hey, Mom, I'm reading books" (except he can't say "k's" and it "booots" instead).

Toad on the Road and Duck in the Truck.

UPDATE:

After pulling the van into the garage (not too "off" myself), I closed the garage door. Put Bec in his car seat. Clicked him in.

As I'm walking away, he says, "Tanks, Mom. I like sweeping in here."

And there he soundly sweeps.

And now, I think back, what did really matter?

It was sort of funny that as I approached him, Klondike bar in his fat little hand, that he took a giant, hurried bite. It was also funny when I grabbed the Klondike bar from his fat little hand that he freakin' fought me for it. He literally pulled half of it away from me, shoved part in his mouth, dropped part on the floor and when he bent over to snatch it back, THAT's when I almost lost it.

But I did say "almost", and right now, almost is pretty sweet.