Lets talk about Terrible 2's

Hi friends,

Where to begin with this one? Firstly, in my experience the terrible 2's did not start at 2. Oh no, my little one decided he wanted to enter this phase earlier... 1.5years to be exact. 🙄

Prior to 1.5years my little one was a sweet, compassionate gremlin who adored hugs and kisses. The word 'No' was nowhere within his vocabulary. 'What an Angel' I would think to myself as he dutifully let me brush his teeth before bedtime. My son could do no wrong. He was adorable plonking around and eating whatever conspicuous meal I had made that night for dinner. 'Parenting is easy..' I would say. 

Little did I know that soon after would the defiance kick in. Terrible 2's is described as a toddlers developmental milestone in which they begin to understand a new lease of independence. A strong urge to challenge their parents and see how far they can go would be my definition. There have been many tears (mainly from me) as we both tried to understand this new shift of behaviour. Many times my toddler would throw himself on the floor screaming and shouting. He wouldn't care where we were. At home, in the supermarket, in a shopping centre. We would always get the few glances and tuts from strangers as they judged our parenting from afar whilst our child was on the floor screaming. They probably didn't have any children of their own I'm presuming. 

As the months went by I then began to realise that there were triggers with these episodes. I slowly started to understand how to manage the tantrums before they got out of hand. The triggers usually stemmed from being frustrated when said toddler couldn't communicate something. My trick is always to begin with the distraction tactic. Find something shiny or noisy or tasty and hopefully this will distract them enough to take away from the tantrum. Failing this, ignore the tantrum before I have my own meltdown. Failing this, have a meltdown in a dark room where noone can find me (not recommended) But usually the distraction tactic does the trick.

Now my toddler is 3 years old, this has presented a whole new heap of challenges in itself. Yes he still has his tantrums, but now he has learnt more independence he literally wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. Which is ok if he wasn't putting his shoes on the wrong way and have a meltdown if I even attempt to fix it. But I suppose this is all part of learning and growing (for both of us).

It is fair to say I am not looking forward to when the Twins reach the 'Terrible 2's'. I barely survived with the first. Wish me luck!

All the best,

Momma