advertisement
-
Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
- read more
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
It was easy to pick something to blog about tonight after the night I had. It was horrible! Terrible! Frightening!
Okay, it wasn't really that bad. It's just that we have had several nights in a row of Charlotte not going to bed. She's not doing it right! She's supposed to give everyone goodnight kisses, and then her dad is supposed to take her upstairs for potty, teeth, jammies, story, and bed. Instead, it's been potty, laughing, teeth, crying, laughing, running away, jammies, running away, story, where's my puppy, where's, my lady bug, bed, screaming, crying, screaming, and collapsing in exhaustion.
Grrr! So frustrating!
See, there's this thing people like to call "The Terrible Twos". It's terrible, and it doesn't start at two. No, no. It starts much earlier, and it lasts much longer.
For example, we had to go to the grocery store today. We really had to. I don't usually like taking the kids to the store. Marc doesn't like to, and Charlotte is so unpredictable that it's a gamble as to what kind of trip we're going to have. But we were out of important foods at our house, and this was the only moment in the day I had to do it. Right after I picked them up for school, we stopped off at the store for cheese, milk, and batteries.
Crap. I forgot the batteries.
It was a letdown from the get go. Charlotte didn't want to ride in the cart's seats, so I let her ride in the big part of the cart. Then, she didn't want to sit down, so I made her get out. Then, she wanted to hang off of the front of the cart, and I said no. She threw herself on the ground and started screaming. I walked away, hoping she would instinctively follow. She did, for a second, then sat down on the ground again and cried. We were still in the parking lot.
"Will you push the cart, Marc?" I asked. "I was just about to offer," he said, and took the reigns while I scooped up a screaming Charlotte. I was scowling.
She screamed at the top of her lungs down the first aisle in the store as other customers shot disapproving looks. I tried to hurry up and get our stuff so we could get out fast. I pointed to the things we needed and Marc grabbed them and tossed them in the cart. Charlotte continued crying all the way to the eggs. Then she thrashed around in my arms forcing me to put her down before I dropped her. Of course, she ran away.
And there I was, chasing a two year old around the grocery store, trying to ignore the woman rolling her eyes at me. Oh yes she did.
I caught Charlotte at last and attempted to distract her with anything I could think of. Look at this toy. Look, here're some juice boxes! I just wanted her to calm down. Then came our deus ex machina in the form of fresh produce.
"Ooh!" Charlotte said. "Green beans!" She reached her arms out toward the stringy green veggies and giggled.
For real, Charlotte?
And that was it. She was good for the rest of the trip. She helped put the groceries in the cart, made cute at the checkout girl, and laughed and laughed until we got back out to the parking lot. That was when she took off running again.
"Marc?" I said with desperation.
"I'll push the cart," he said. I chased Charlotte down and carried her to the van where we met Marc, already waiting. She wiggled out of my arms and into the van, where she absolutely refused to get into her seat.
"You take care of her and I'll get the groceries," Marc said, unloading the cart into the back of the van.
As I fought with my sweet Lotte Sunshine over the stinkin' car seat, I tried to remember if it was like this with Marc. It was. Many times had I had to time my grocery store trips so I wouldn't have to go through this. Many times I had to chase Marc into a parking lot because he hadn't made the connection between getting hit by a car and death.
All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.
I got Lotte into her car seat and looked over at Marc. He was putting the cart away at the corral at the front of the store. He used to be a Terrible Two. He would make me so crazy sometimes! But now he's ten. He pushes the cart for his mom and helps get the groceries into the car. He's compassionate and responsible, and he loves his crazy sister and flustered.
He's not a Terrible Two anymore. He's a Terrific Ten!
We got home with the groceries, and as I unloaded the car, Lotte decided to play in the rain. I didn't mind at first. She was having a blast! Then, she had a blast all the way down the street and around the corner where I had to chase her, yelling. She did stop, but only after she slipped on the wet grass and fell down.
Heavy sigh.
And that brings us to tonight's bedtime. She was practically an angel for the remainder of the evening until bedtime. But her dad and I sucked it up and made it through. Maybe it's a growth spurt. Maybe it's a phase. I don't know, and I'm not sure it matters and I'm not asking for advice. I know she'll be fine. She's a Terrible Two now, but someday she'll be a Terrific Ten like her big bro!
How did you get through the toddler phase? Were you tough? Were you pulling your hair out? Is it happening to you right now? Toddlers are cute, but they have their own agendas for sure!
Wow I had forgotten what it had been like. I don'tthink Dale was ever that bad but I know we had our momments. I really just took it as it came and handled it the best I could. Which we continud to have into his threes. When they are three is isn't quite like the twos but yet it seems to be another phase. Good Luck and try not to pull your hair out.Just remember that the terrible two stage doesn't last forever. And I'm glad your 10-year-old is great. Mine is mostly good, but this morning I got a full dose of tween hostility. I'm chalking it up to potential hormone issues starting, but I don't know. He might have just been having an off morning. Good luck with your little Lotte!Blake is six now, but I do remember when he was two. Just remember that behavior is driven by emotion, not logic. This is fundamental to everything. Here is an article that I really enjoyed about Terrible Two's: http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/10-reasons-to-love-the-terrible-twos-2565498.html Good Luck!
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagsmotherhood (12)
school (10)
family (9)
parenting (7)
growing up (6)
fibromyalgia (5)
birthday (4)
bullies (4)
kids (4)
toddlers (4)
anxiety (3)
divorce (3)
normal (3)
stress (3)
video games (3)
accident (2)
awesome (2)
baseball (2)
brother (2)
children (2)
christmas (2)
chronic illness (2)
death (2)
er (2)
hair (2)
holidays (2)
life (2)
love (2)
money (2)
news (2)
nintendo (2)
obama (2)
presents (2)
recycling (2)
religion (2)
siblings (2)
sick (2)
son (2)
taxes (2)
tradition (2)
unemployment (2)
valentine (2)
writing (2)
9/11 (1)
acting (1)
adrenal insufficiency (1)
adult (1)
advice (1)
afentra (1)
affirmation (1)
alone (1)
american (1)
animal control (1)
animal rights (1)
april fools (1)
attacks (1)
aunt (1)
babies (1)
babysitting (1)
backyard (1)
bad day (1)
bedtime (1)
bin laden (1)
bionicle (1)
birth (1)
body (1)
bonding (1)
brothers (1)
busy mom (1)
calm (1)
car (1)
car theft (1)
car trouble (1)
carnival (1)
casey anthony (1)
caterpillars (1)
cel phone (1)
celebration (1)
celebrities (1)
changes (1)
charity (1)
chicken (1)
classroom (1)
cleanliness (1)
clothes (1)
clothing (1)
clutter (1)
co parenting (1)
co sleeping (1)
comicon (1)
community (1)
competition (1)
confession (1)
dad (1)
dating (1)
daughter (1)
dead animal (1)
deals (1)
debate (1)
debt (1)
decisions (1)
decorations (1)
depression (1)
diapers (1)
dinner (1)
disconnect (1)
diverticulitis (1)
doctor (1)
doctor who (1)
doctors (1)
dollhouse (1)
drama (1)
ds (1)
easter (1)
education (1)
election (1)
employment (1)
espresso (1)
facebook (1)
families (1)
family bed (1)
fantasy (1)
faq (1)
fat (1)
fears (1)
feminism (1)
fever (1)
fifth grade (1)
filing (1)
finances (1)
first (1)
friend (1)
fun (1)
gay (1)
gay marriage (1)
geek (1)
global (1)
goals (1)
god (1)
good moms (1)
goodbye (1)
grades (1)
graffiti (1)
gratitude (1)
groceries (1)
grown-up (1)
guns (1)
haircut (1)
halloween (1)
handmade (1)
happiness (1)
happy thoughts (1)
hard times (1)
hate (1)
high school (1)
hip (1)
holiday (1)
home (1)
home alone (1)
honesty (1)
hunger (1)
hurricane (1)
internet (1)
interviews (1)
jobs (1)
joke (1)
joplin (1)
judgement (1)
karma (1)
kcmo (1)
lake (1)
lawyers (1)
lgbtq (1)
liberal (1)
libya (1)
louisburg (1)
mini van (1)
miniature (1)
minimalism (1)
moderation (1)
momless (1)
montessori (1)
motehrhood (1)
museum (1)
nag (1)
nanowrimo (1)
neighbors (1)
new car (1)
new year (1)
new york (1)
newtown (1)
nothing (1)
novel (1)
obsession (1)
occupy wall street (1)
occupykc (1)
ogres (1)
older (1)
organizing (1)
ozarks (1)
paintball (1)
paranoia (1)
parking lot (1)
pasta (1)
peaceful (1)
pee (1)
pencils (1)
permission (1)
perspective (1)
persuasive (1)
politics (1)
positivity (1)
potty training (1)
poverty (1)
practical (1)
prayer (1)
president (1)
principles (1)
prison (1)
puberty (1)
public (1)
pumpkin patch (1)
questions (1)
raccoon (1)
radio (1)
rage (1)
rainbow (1)
real life (1)
recipe (1)
remembering (1)
renaissance festival (1)
resolutions (1)
restaurants (1)
roller coaster (1)
romney (1)
router (1)
royals (1)
sadness (1)
sahm (1)
salesmen (1)
sandwich (1)
sandy (1)
sauce (1)
self esteem (1)
serotonin (1)
sharing (1)
shooting (1)
shopping (1)
single (1)
sister (1)
sleep (1)
slumber party (1)
spaghetti (1)
sports (1)
spring (1)
spring break (1)
spying (1)
star trek (1)
star wars (1)
state fair (1)
storm (1)
style (1)
super mom (1)
superheroes (1)
tantrums (1)
teachers (1)
teaching (1)
teasing (1)
temperance (1)
ten (1)
texting (1)
thanksgiving (1)
threats (1)
three (1)
tiger mom (1)
time (1)
tired (1)
toddler (1)
tornado (1)
trash (1)
tv (1)
vacation (1)
vacuum cleaner (1)
video (1)
violin (1)
visit (1)
voting (1)
war (1)
warming (1)
wifi (1)
wohm (1)
women (1)
wow (1)
zelda (1)
zen (1)