I have always hated the phrase terrible twos. It seems quite silly to me. They aren’t terrible, they are just doing what they are suppose to do. Push limits, find their boundaries, and do things their own way. My two little toddler’s are no different, they do all of the above and I love it! That is not to say that we don’t face challenging times with the kids though.
Like, right now, Maggie is in this phase where she has to do everything first. The last few days have really been trying. My niece is here, and is 7 years old. She said she had to go potty and went in the bathroom. Maggie went to the door screaming – I want to go first!!! That’s pretty much what the entire last few days have been like. Frustrating for her and I both. She even gets mad at the dog. When we go outside, the dog scoots on out as soon as she opens the door. It makes her mad every time!
To go along with that, she loves to do everything for herself. I think that is wonderful. She will try anything, and then when she struggles, she will ask for help. I really do love this about her, but like any parent, sometimes you just want to do it yourself and have it done faster! I can tell you, I have grown so much because of Maggie’s independence. I have always had a lot of patience, but I have developed even more with her because of this.
While her behaviors may be challenging to me, the worst part is that I don’t always react to them the way I would like. Then, my amazing, beautiful and incredibly smart little girl will look me in the eye and say, mommy, don’t be mad at me, or something similar that at once breaks my heart. It makes me immediately wish I could go back in time and handle it the right way. It has also taught me how to immediately apologize for how I handled something and talk to her about it. It allows us time to talk and give a lot of love to each other. {Wow, that isn’t where I intended this post to go}.
While Maggie presents me daily with chances to help her grow through these situations, I am grateful that one of the challenges we face isn’t the dreaded “no, mom”. She is an awesome listener and I do my best to remember that when we are faced with a less than easy situation.
Each week, we are linking up for Tuesday’s Toddler Tales. This week we are talking about Toddler Challenges. Next week’s topic is exploring nature.
What challenges are you facing right now with your kids? Do you ever wish you could have a do over and deal with them differently?
My toddler is experiencing the opposite problem right now. She is in the middle of, “I can’t do it!” She won’t try to do anything for herself. It’s too heavy or it’s too hard. I’ve been pretty frustrated lately. But we did have a bright spot last week when she climbed up and went down the slide at McDonald’s all by herself!!!
I have a 4 year old, 3 year old, and 2 month old and I can definitely relate. Most days my kids are thoughtful and kind and then there are those days that just turn us into wrecks. I just have to remind myself to listen to them and what they are telling me they need.
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Oh it breaks my heart when they say mommy don’t be mad. Or the other night my son is comes out of his room again. I took him back and he starts screaming. Finally I go ask him what’s wrong and he says mommie I just wanted a hug. Now I know that is not what he really wanted but still it made me feel bad. Let me mention this is 2 am and I have been begging him to go to bed since 8 pm.
[…] I can come read. Also thank you to Our Piece Of Earth for the new topic. You can find her story at http://www.ourpieceofearth.com/shocker-alert-my-perfect-toddlers-can-be-challenging-tuesdays-toddler… and link […]
You are absolutely right! Between my hubby’s family and mines, we are constantly having a tug-o-war between what a child is “meant” to do vs what we thing a child “ought” to do. Yes, there will be many trying times, but I would love it if we had more support in raising our kids with such a natural understanding.
My toddler has selective hearing loss these day. She acts like she totally can’t hear me.
I don’t have a toddler, I have a 7-month-old, so I’m facing different sorts of challenges. Mainly bedtime challenges. He has recently decided that he wants to go to bed a little later, which is fine, but he still wants to get up at (or sometimes before) the crack of dawn. Having never been a good napper, he’s been a tad cranky.
Your post was fun to read and it’s good to know what I have to look forward to. It may be a challenge, but you may have also discovered a novel potty training technique! 😉
We’re in the Terrible Two’s also. You sound waaaay more patient and zen than I am. I really must learn to be more understanding when he apologizes and is sweet after some admittedly rotten toddler behavior.