The Terrible Twos Are Not Always Terrible. Write it Down.
I am enjoying the CRAP out of having a 2 1/2 year old right now. A lot of the time with kids, they have SO MANY NEEDS that you expend all your energy fulfilling them and don’t have any left over for fun stuff like playing trains or teaching them to fist-bump-then-blow-it-up or reading The Napping House fifty bazillion times a day. I’ve felt like that a lot over the past year – which is probably the opposite of shocking, seeing as how that’s when I doubled my need-o-meter by adding ANOTHER tiny helpless human to the mix. I’m not saying I haven’t enjoyed anything up until this point, but lately I’ve found myself doing a lot more fun kid stuff instead of parenting stuff. I almost say that I’d be OK with Evan dropping his nap if he wanted (it would free up our schedule SO MUCH!) but I’m not quite there yet. Sometimes I still need a minute to shower, you know?
DID YOU HEAR THAT UNIVERSE? I said DON’T drop the nap yet. DON’T.
I don’t think being exactly 2 years and 8 months old is the deciding factor in enjoying my kid more. I think it mostly has to do with this stage of understanding and development and communication and self-control. I haven’t had to drag him kicking and screaming and crying out of anywhere for almost a month. He understands consequences BEFORE they happen, so I can threaten time out or no games or being sold to a circus without actually having to do it. He has ALL THE WORDS and can tell me what hurts or why he’s sad or what he needs without screaming at me. He can be reasoned with. And since we’re using our words when we’re angry, we’re also using our words when we’re sitting on the couch or riding in the car or watching TV or making dinner. He asks “whachu doin’, Mommy?” Yesterday I told him I was making a pinata for Caroline’s party. He looked it up and down, and then said “AWESOME Mommy! High five!”
How can you NOT love that kid?
Tags: communication, discipline, good days, little evan, motherhood, terrible twos, things I love, toddler, two and a half, words
Love his high-five comment. :)
Personally, I can’t figure out why they call it “Terrible Twos”–I LOVED that age with Aiden! Hopefully this won’t happen with with Little Evan, but three has been much harder; either that or I’ve got a kid with a major independent streak. As he gets closer to four, though, it seems to be subsiding a bit. At least I hope it is.
I feel exactly the same way. 2 1/2 is AWESOME!!!
You jinxed it. The nap fairies will not be kind. I personally loved 2-4 year olds. Always have. Babies arent fun. Elena still cant (or wont?) sit or walk by herself. And after 30 mins of babble I tend to get bored with the conversation. Every day she learns more and gets bigger which is sad b/c she is so little and needs me and loves me soo much. But its also exciting. High five!
I think teaching Spence to fist bump and then blow it up (or as we call it, explode it) is one of my proudest parenting achievements. And then we made it educational and he calls it none-five, which confuses the hell out of people but I find it hysterical.
I love this age too! So much fun! And we just gave up naps a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t as bad as i feared. i miss the break, but the extra time it gives us on the weekends to actually do fun things as a family has been awesome. it has also meant that i’ve had to start teaching Rory that Mommy isn’t always available, but i think that’s been good for her too…sort of getting her ready for the new baby.
The twos have been good to us, too. It leaves me totally torn between wanting O to hurry up and get there & wanting him to stop growing and stay my baby. JD has started complimenting me totally unprompted which has been AWESOME.
I taught Sophia to fist bump then explode…but she enjoys doing it with her own two fists more than doing it with me. I think I dropped the ball.
This gives me grand hope since we will be adding a tiny helpless human come spring when Sophia will be 2 years and 9 months. And I honestly hope that we are passed the terrible part of the terrible 2’s and more into the awesome part of two by then.
it’s impossible not to love him. amen.
I’m jealous- We are entering the terrible twos with unreasonable, irrational, uncontrollable baby #3–and it-ain’t-pretty! I think 3 and 4 was my favorite ages with me other two. They say funny things (like “high five Mommy! LOVE with big red fuzzy hearts.) Right now I get ‘mih’ which to me means milk yet when handed to indignant toddler, he propels himself to the floor Screaming NOOOO and flailing his legs in unnatural directions.
Yes- Yes, I am jealous of your new faze. Congrats! They get so much funner until they hit 6.
:-)
2 1/2 has been fun for us as well, and as Brayden’s speech improves, I find it easier to figure out just what he needs/wants. Brayden does fist bumps, too, and it is HILARIOUS.