Surely there is nothing cuter than a two year old at their cutest. Still compact and chubby, all toothy and smiley, lisping and swapping v's for b's, saying something totally sweet and random. There is nothing more heartwarming and satisfying than watching your own (almost) two-year-old being adorable.
Conversely, there is surely nothing more infuriating, exasperating and downright frightening than a two year old in the full throes of a tantrum. Particularly your own (almost) two-year-old, who somehow has the power to make your heart beat outside of your chest and your hair stand on end, sprouting a few greys like you see in animations. I'm shuddering just thinking about it.
My Mum said a couple of weeks ago that she thinks my daughter went through the terrible twos at 14 months old. This is because she went through a particularly bad patch of behaviour around then but improved greatly more recently. Well, I'm going to have to break it to Mum that that period was NOT in fact the terrible twos. We have entered a much darker age, an age much nearer to two, that is fraught with many more obstacles and MUCH louder screaming that I do believe to be the fateful aforementioned "phase".
Now it must be known that I JEST, somewhat. Of course it isn't all bad and please see above - two year olds are viciously cute. Mine included. But seriously, they are hardcore. They can be terrifying, sometimes multiple times in one day. They can make you wonder if you are in the real life version of Damien.
I think the main difficulty is how completely IRRATIONAL their behaviour seems (and is) at times. How the smallest things can cause a complete meltdown. Doing my research into this happy phase, I've found that this is actually because toddlers of this age have the ability to think that something is very important and pressing, but no concept of "others," and therefore no idea that we wouldn't find the issue equally as pertinent. Which makes you feel kind of sorry for them, really.
Recently, while dealing with these fun new behaviours, J and I discovered the Australian Government's parenting website, raisingchildren.net.au. It's actually a great resource, with lots of articles, tips, advice and even videos with examples of different techniques and reassuring footage of other kids behaving just the way yours does! A lot of the advice is fairly common sense, but it's a great reminder when things are becoming a bit too much.
I'm attending a parenting workshop with some fellow mums from my Mother's Group in a few weeks time, and I will definitely share my insights with you all. I can't wait to ask questions specific to my child, and get some fresh ideas on approaches to take and technique's to use.
Meanwhile, here are a few examples of terrible two behaviour we have dealt with this week, that I can laugh about in retrospect!:
- H finding a pair of my underwear in the dirty clothing basket, putting them on and calling them "Princess Undies". When I realised they weren't washed I made her take them off and then had to go through my entire underwear drawer to the sound of her screaming "PRINCESS UNDIEEEEES!" until I found another pair to her liking.
- H refusing to get dress until I found a top with a sequined pocket that she called "Princess Top" - "PRINCESS TOP ON!" Sadly she didn't understand the concept of a pocket and thought the top was broken, which caused her to throw herself around the living room screaming "FIX IIIIIIT!" for about 15 minutes.
- Clearly not a fan of broken things, H found her butterfly wand in the carseat only to discover it was actually broken, and scream "FIX IIIIIIIIIT!" for the duration of the car trip.
- Screaming "MORE!" whenever something she was enjoying finishes, until she either a) Gets more or b) Hurts herself through tantruming, whichever comes first.
- Another amusing but not tanrum-y development is the consistent use of the phrase "No thanks!", which is used in response to just about everything including Brush Your Teeth, Time For Bed, Let's Have a Shower, Put Your Shoes On and even I'm Going to Read You a Story - "NO THANKS!"
- H looking at me, raising her hand and saying "NOT!" when I start speaking and she's not interested.......
- This week's Damien moment was when H pushed me (hard!) and I asked her to say sorry, which she refused to do. This escalated into a tantrum and at the end I hugged her and said "Well, you pushed me." I swear she looked me right in the eye, SMILED and said "Yeah!". Sweet child.
Lucky they're cute.
Z x
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