Tuesday 10 November 2009

Parenting An Almost Two Year Old


This is what my almost two year old's breakfast looked like at our house today.

I served Tiny her breakfast in one of my very favourite 'Tres Bon' New Zealand made vintage bowls. Big mistake. She walked over - tipped out the contents. I raced over to rescue the bowl, but before I could get there, she really did toss it on the ground and ker-smasho.

This has pretty well set the scene for the rest of our morning.

I thought the terrible twos were an urban myth. A horrible urban myth. The Doctor never went through them. But apparently Tiny is here to set the record straight. The terrible twos are a no-good-horrible-very-bad-very-real-ugly-hard-to-live-with-terrible-awful-insidious-honest-to-goodness truth. As further testament I have no hair after pulling it out.

The end.

21 comments:

zofia said...

Argh!!! Been there, Going back for another serve next year ;)
Sympathies!

home girl said...

oh what happened - tiny was such a sweet possum, i thought little girls just sat around wearing clips & clean dresses doing craft all day? same thing happened here with baxter - someone took my easy going charming baby and put the devil in him age 2. its been a long year with no end in sight. winter was difficult from birth to age 4. now he is mostly delightful (especially in comparison to the 2 yr old).
btw thanks for lovely comment on my blog. birthing is such a special thing its wonderful to share it. i remember reading your magical story bout tiny floating up ino your arms one of the most memorable stories i've read xx

Cindy said...

If only terrible 2's wwas an urban myth - like the unicorn, the gold at the end of the rainbow or a helpful MIL. Oh no, they are real sister, break out in a cold sweat kind of real! Poppy turned into the Pop-inator, an all destroying creature that thows, yells and kicks. Hates her Daddy, screams at him if he even tries to smile at her. Has Caleb permanently in her scope, you see the eyes change (much like Damien in the Omen) and you know to batten down the hatches - there is a storm brewing and no is safe. She had her second day of Child care today, first time lovely - today the screaming door mat for 10 minutes, I feel sdly comforted by that. I still love her, but I suspect I will love her more once she is 4

Liesl said...

My two-year old has forgotten that he turned three last month. Hmmmphh. (He is living testament to the fact that it is possible to smash up that unbreakable Corelle wear stuff.)

Good luck!

Leonie said...

Terrible twos started at 18 months for our number three but they fade in and out so he catches you unawares....some people who miss terrible twos get frustrating threes or unforgivable fours. I know which one I prefer...the two year old can't open the bedroom door or climb out of the cot!

Good luck with Tiny, the most frustrating thing is often not working out what will trigger an "attack" until after the fact :-)

Vic said...

Ohhhhhhhhhh SNAP!

I have one of those over here - terrible twos started a while ago - she won't even BE two until January!!!

The temper....! Her favourite trick is to chuck a tanty & no matter where she is in the house she'll run to her little table & throw her chair on the ground backwards. It's like a full stop, or perhaps, more fittingly, an exclamation point. It's like "THERE! You see?! THAT'S how &!$$#% off I am!"

God save us all. ;)

Anonymous said...

Joining in the chorus. Though I think my wee one has always thrown temper tantrums it is just now they are full on belly flops in carpark catastrophes.

Cat said...

GASP! Poor you mourning the loss of your bowl.

I must say that I appreciate your sharing as it seems my bebito is the only one throwing tanties and being deliberately mischievous of the toddlers I know. Tis nice to know I'm not alone.

alina said...

"the two year old can't open the bedroom door or climb out of the cot!" ... oh boy ... you haven't seen my middle one!! :)
check this out: http://alinadownunder.blogspot.com/2009/10/caprita-vine-de-la-capra-neagra.html
(well, the pics say it pretty much all, sorry the blog is not in English)
she started the terrible 2's at about 15 months, ongoing. she'll be 2 only in Jan next year.
we call her miss-laden-a, my Anna.

so, yeah, my sympathies ... :)

dorothybills..... said...

I feel your pain!! I lost a lot of beautiful things when my now 10yr old was 2.. and 3! What can you do...maybe make a mosaic!(think I spelt that wrong!)

Evie said...

oh dear! i hope tomorrows breakfast goes more smoothly for miss 2 and your hair is back to its usual beautiful self ; )

Christina Lowry said...

Poor bowl, I'll bet it never saw what was coming and the end was swift and painless.

Tiny on the other hand, well, wishing you all the best....

:)

Shelley Trbuhovich said...

i know this scenario! except the contents of thrown bowl is placed on the head first! cutie melamine plates all the way for this family...x

sophie said...

The terrible two's are a total reality - my first and last were pretty good but my middle girl - holy cow it was HELL!! I ended up crying nearly every day because I couldn't handle her and I didn't know what to do it sucked. Good news is that it passes, she is wonderful now :-)

Rachael @Mogantosh said...

I'm feeling you, although, can I mess with you - I keep being told that THREE is worse! That two is just a lead-up to the big guns...and at four, the demon leaves. I can see it may be true with Ivy. She has always been able to crack a good one, but now has just that much more lung capacity and physical strength to increase the drama. But - as they get older discipline gets more possible too. Good luck!x

Angie said...

ahhh, poor bowl, I grew up with a set of these plates in our house (I don't remember any bowls....perhaps I smashed them all when I was two).

I found 2 OK with my son (3 was a bit different though, nearly 4 is lovely) but my 2 year old is just starting on her 'terrible' journey....I'll really have no hair if I pull any out as most of it is a'fluttering to the floor all over the house as I hit the 13-week-post-birth mark (happens every time).

Katy said...

we had a bit of the terrible two's with no sleeping and screaming tantrums and just as I thought she had now turned three and all is cool - IT'S NOT! She has only been three for two weeks and we have fussy food girl, constant freak out's if I walk out the room, not sleeping - roll on 16 x

suzy said...

oh poop PMM.
I have lost count at the amount of things that have been smashed around here. It isn't because of the kids. They have terrible two rolling into fugly four moments, but I live with my hubby Ben who is a cross between Clark Griswald and Frank Spencer trapped in a body of a 6'3 lumber jack with no coordination.
I always mumble the same thing under my breath while I'm hoovering "I can never have anything nice"....

Tania said...

Crikey. If it's any consolation, here's a sample of my Terrible Two.

(supermarket, TT in trolley she reaches for a large jar of Vegemite, Mum here dives to save certain shattered glass and brown goo catastrophe)...

TT: (seethes like devil possessed): "How DARE you!"
Me: (calm and just pleased to avoid catastrophe thing) : "Please don't speak to me like that"
TT: (high pitched squeal, fellow shoppers running to the rescue): "DON'T HIT ME!"

Honestly.

heather said...

hi, i just found you through eunice who's on whip up, and i was drawn to your blog's title. ha. i am with you on that. and i too have a 2 year old, and it is hard hard hard lately. her tantrums are just enough to push me over the edge. along with her princess nature, which i think she learned from her sister, and did her sister learn it from me?? oh, it's tricky. i love girls like you who will really say it's hard, and then say a bit more about it! cuz it's f******* hard with these littles. and then it's lovely, but then it's hard. yin yang is how i'm making sense of it these days.

Anna Bartlett said...

I totally hear you. My two year old is currently asleep in our bed, where she will stay, as we have been worn down to the extent where I will sleep on the couch if that's what it takes to NOT hear THE WHINGE and actually close my eyes for more than 5 minutes. Ah, but these days are fleeting...