Thursday, June 27, 2013

Life With a 2 Year Old


Davy has been 2 for almost a month now.
I didn't really find 2 hard with my other kids.
James was easy from day 1--there were never any terrible 2s with him.
William was challenging from 2-3 but it was more with a few key issues, not the tantrums and  the whole, terrible 2s thing.
Lilly was tough from 1 until close to 2 before she got her words.
She screamed so much, and so shrilly, that many days I thought I'd have a nervous breakdown before Aaron got home from work.
It was tough.
But then she found her words and just like that, the screaming was gone.

David was a bit later with the language.
Much like his brother, William, Davy has really started to talk after turning 2.
And all the screaming that was happening when he couldn't get his words out is happening a lot less these days.
We actually have conversations now.
They go something like this:
Me: "Davy, it's almost Lilly's birthday and we'll sing the happy birthday song to her."
Davy: "Wooooow.  No!  My happy birthday!"
Me: "Davy, we got Lilly a Hello Kitty bike for her birthday."
Davy: "Woooow.  No!  My Hello Kitty bike!"
Me: "Davy, come with me to get a snack for the boys."
Davy, with snack in hand: "No! Get my snack!"
If it was my first kid I'd be terrified that he'd grow up into the most selfish person ever.
Instead, I know he's just acting like a 2 year old acts, and that we'll help him learn to share, and not be such a little tyrant.
And I'm laughing a lot at living life with a 2 year old.



There's nothing like it!
Love from,
Greta

*I know I should probably be ashamed of this picture, but it just makes me laugh.  Mostly because I totally drove him to this response.  All he wanted to do was to play on the playground and I kept making him stand by this wall while I tried to get the perfect picture of him.  He kept saying, "more playground, mama!" over and over, while I snapped photo after photo.
Finally he clenched his fists and let out a scream as if to say, "if you won't listen to my words, will you listen to this, lady?!"
It worked.
We went to the playground and I ended up with this picture.
Which I kind of love.
And the reminder to listen to my kids and not drive them to this kind of response.
Also, I can totally relate to him
So many times I have wanted to have this exact kind of response to something.
Usually I manage to hold it together, and when I can't, there ends of being a lot of pots and pans being banged around, or very aggressive sweeping while I "mad clean".
I guess I still have a lot of two year old inside me.
Do you?

4 comments:

Terrie said...

I have acted like a 2 year old on way too many occasions. :) Great picture.


Betsi* said...

Thank you for being in love with your kids and yet able to say that they scream and can be selfish. Because mine scream and can be selfish, and yes, sometimes I'm the one driving the crazy train too. Love you, friend. ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh my little Ali will be 2 next month and I can totally relate to this. We also have a 2.75 year old foster son. Sharing and not being so selfish is really tough to learn… I wonder if we expect too much of them sometimes. At the same time, though, when they finally start to get "it" (not throwing food, saying sorry, whatever "it" is at the moment… it's so refreshing. All those 10 hundred million times we told them what to do or not do, it finally worked!

Anonymous said...

I loved your post. I have a 19 month old who doesn't talk much. It can be frustrating. There is a lot of grunting and shrieking and food throwing. I liked your description of them finding their words.