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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I used the wrong towel to dry her, so the world ended.

Life around our house has turned into an extended game going by the name of TrytoremaincalmwhileTheToddlerscreamsfornoreason.

What happened this week?!?

I'll tell you what. Much like my premature grey hair and involuntary twitch, we have come upon the Traumatic-Two's a wee bit earlier than planned. Within 1 week, we have gone from excited and happy child to lose-your-[French words to follow]-shit meltdowns over EVERY.LITTLE.THING. Suddenly, we not only have preferences, but we have opinions, nay, DEMANDS. This morning a pair of shoes on She Who May Scream If She Hears Me, and she had a crying, kicking, jolly good fit until I put the shoes SHE wanted to wear on her feet. Hey, no problem Kid, I can accommodate, looking like a hobo is your perogative, but [here we go, parenting verbiage] USE YOUR WORDS. AT LEAST THE ONES YOU DO KNOW. Please do not just turn into a structureless, spaghetti blob that can't be consoled. Most of the time, I am pretty sure that after several minutes, she has forgotten what exactly started the event, and at this point she just can't get her [French] shit together enough to calm down.

What to do? Andrew and I are trying to figure out an approach that works and we can be consistent with. I get that she is frustrated about her vocabulary not keeping up with her will to express herself. I also understand she wants to control her world more. How do you encourage curiosity and independence without setting a we-gave-in precedence? This parenting gig gets more complicated I take it. I start to panic that the most minuscule behaviors I display with her today will completely bite me in the [French] ass when she's a teen. If I let her substitute the meal we made for dinner with tortilla chips and ketchup in order to avoid the tantrum, is she going to become pregnant at 14? This is where my mind jumps. Please tell me it gets better. Or if you have magical, kumbaya tactics, I'm also eager to hear them, so spill it.

2 comments:

Tabatha said...

Dude. I'm hot on your heels. I have no freaking what do to except laugh my everlovingass off when she throws tantrums in the middle of the mall.

Some of my moms friends (who have successfully navigated the Terrible Twos/Threes) have recommended 1-2-3 Magic & Positive Parenting. I've yet to read them, but they are most definitely on my list.

Good luck to you!

Bryn said...

If this works....give her options. Get 2 pair of shoes that you would be okay with and let her pick from those 2. That worked for Gabe, but I"m not sure how it will work on a girl. Once Gabe thought he had some "control", he did much better.

Hope that helps!! I have an 11 year old right now who is getting in on the hormones and crying for no reason...You have awhile before that happens though. ;)

Good luck!