Is your 2 yr old generally good or are you going through terrible twos?

[Clare123]

Just wondering if you would describe your little 2 yr old "such a good little boy/girl". Or does everyone feel it at this age??

[EsmeWeatherwax]

Generally good with some truly awful days!

[evaangel2]

tbh, ds2 was fine at that age, he is 4 next month and the past 3 months has made up for it

[HeadFairy]

Ups and downs... he has a few tantrums, but amazingly they really don't get to me. I thought I'd be grinding my teeth, because I find it hard to deal with other tantrumming toddlers, but for some reason I can be deaf to him when he's being screechy. I think perhaps because he's pretty cool mostly that I can turn a blind eye to the odd tantrum.

What's more irritating (maybe that's not the right word... testing?) is his absolute insistence on doing everything himself. I say to him, mummy's going to put her contact lenses in now (God knows why I tell him that, I give the poor soul a running commentary on everything!) and he says "I do it!" I tell him I'm going to make lunch now, he says "I do it". I tell him I'm going to drive to work now and I'll get "I drive to work now!" He is soooo asserting his independence! Quite frustrating sometimes when he won't let me even pour a drink for him, and he tries to do it himself and then pours it all over the floor.

[LatinDAISYcal]

My 2yr 4mo DD is in turns delightful and a fecking nightmare; often in the same minute.

she is mostly delightful though; as long as things are going her way

actually now she is a wee bit older she is starting to understand logical explanations of why she can't wear tights over her trousers and then socks on top of that without screaming the house down!!

[LatinDAISYcal]

ay yes evaangel2; they tell you about the teriible twos but forget to mention the troublesome threes and the fecking awful fours

[MrsBadger]

agree with daisy

dd is angelic until thwarted

[LatinDAISYcal]

Are you having a hard time with your DC Clare?

[bratley]

He's lovely when we're in public, but at home he can turn within seconds!
I find myself saying to DH 'oh just let him have it, he only had a tantrum 10minutes ago!' far too often lately!

It comes and goes though, we can go a few days with him in a lovely mood then have a couple of days of him being completely unreasonable!
I can tune him out when he's screaming on the floor but for DH its like nails down a blackboard so I find myself trying to keep the peace so neither of them get grumpy!

[Clare123]

Yes!!!!!! And I have a Sil who tells me what a little angel she has! Great to hear when you are having a tough time, but she probably is having an easy time.

[AnybodyHomeMcFly]

Generally good (was perfect all day at a family wedding last weekend). Will have a big tantrum about, say, having to get dressed in the morning but then it's over as soon as it began. He is good company. Potty training is hard tho and I just found a small turd in the door of the washing machine, thought at first it was a conker but no....

[LatinDAISYcal]

I thing your SIL might just be putting a positive spin on things as they all have their moments

Waht we have found useful is to tell her that she needs to speak to us so we can work out what is wrong, and get her to breathe in and then blow her fringe slowly; it really calms her down and now when she starts to kick off she will often do the fringe blowing thing herself.

If she's inconsolable though there is nothing for it but to leave her pounding the floor until she calms down.

[LatinDAISYcal]

Oh mcfly, PMSL

[Tommy]

mostly good but throws hilarious tantrums when he is tired.

Today's was (when I said Daddy was going to buy chips for tea) "no chips, no chips" - and throwing himself on the floor and stamping around. eventually DH said "Ok, no chips then" an DS3 threw himself on the floor again and screamed "chips, chips, chips"

[geordieminx]

Was just discussing this with dp, ds is 2 1/2, and I think sometimes we forget that he is 2, and 2 year olds tantrum.

Mostly he is well behaved, funny, clever and good company but god when he doesnt get his own way he turns into Damien.

Mainly when he is tired or hungry, but if he decides he wants (or doesnt want) something then the tears and throwing himself and anything else he can get his hands on is there in seconds.

I have to admit, during the week I have a tendancy just to let him get on with it(SAHM), but weekends I give in to him more, easy life/stop WW III breaking out.

He is very affectionate though, lots of cuddles/kisses strokes for mummy, and often disappears into the garden and comes back with a flower for mummy

[StrikeUpTheBand]

My ds at just over 2 and a half I love to bits, and he's so interesting now...but I wouldn't say he was easy at this age - in fact I hanker back to the days he would sit there quietly in his pushchair while I went shopping - now if he's walking with me I spend most of my time stopping him from knocking things off the shelves that he's 'looking at', and if he's in the pushchair I walk into a shop he doesn't like the look of and he throws a huge wobbly! He used to help me with the laundry - now he runs away laughing with my previously folded stuff and throws it into the bathroom . Also, his trip to the gift shop the other day when we were out for the day makes me still cringe - he was the sort of child where you blame the parents . He used to be so much nicer!

[AnybodyHomeMcFly]

I KNOW. Gawd. Had to redo the whole load. Funny tho

[MrsBadger]

Tommy is spot on re the irrational tired/hungry tantrums
dd had one today because it was afternoon and not morning

and yet at nursery / with grandma etc she is shy and sweet and does as she;s asked...

[LittleMissNorty]

My 2 year old is generally good, except says "no" to everything, even if she means yes , throws a strop if she doesn't get her own way, doesn't understand what gentle means (especially in regard to why she should not sit on her 7 month old brother and ride him like a horse), is fiercely independent....then at other times, when I get a big hug and "love you" could charm the birds off the trees.

On the whole though, 7pm is a good time of day

[Tommy]

lol MrsBadger's toddler

[bratley]

I agree littlemiss, 7pm is my favourite time of the day, most day!

DS threw a strop tonight because I put his dinner on the table and had already put his fork on the plate and there was food on it... he got down from the table and shouted 'no...dinner... mummy!'
Then I pretended to get another fork from the drawer (as I wiped the food off his) and he climbed back up to the table and ate the lot!

[LatinDAISYcal]

lol MrsB and snort norty at DD riding DS like a horse. I have caught DD sitting on bumble (my 11mo old) waving his arms and singing "row your boat" before!

when DD is stropping for her country and I ask her what's wrong, she wails despondently "I don't know mummy"; it breaks my heart as it makes me realise that she doesn't really know what is going on.

[sparkle09]

my DD is a nightmare,

she screams for so long sometimes to the point where she just cant breath and throws herself about so theres no way of safely holding her,

she point blankly ignores me when i tell her not to do something, or to leave something alone, (i get a certain look when she knows what im saying but is choosing not to listen to me!)

she constantly annoys her big brother and then comes screaming crying when he retaliates.

on the upside she is very loving and i get kisses and cuddle alot and is very beautiful and cheeky with it too.

shes too damn clever and pretty for her own good, going to cause us lots of big head aches!

[mwff]

i'm new to the terrible twos (dd1 missed them out entirely, had the fuckin' frees instead) and i'm sorry to say that whilst dd2 is, on the whole, delightful company when she's on her own, she's often a little shit to her sister.

it's not really that surprising - adults are generally accommodating of the whims of toddlers and are charmed by her, her sister not so much. she wouldn't dare to pinch/bite/kick/push us (unless very tired/hungry) but often does to her sister. worse still, dd1 has started responding in kind

it's a management issue as much as anything - when i have time/energy to manage their time together and plan activities it generally runs smoother than just hoping they'll look after themselves, particularly as we have a small house and they share a room, so there's not much dd1 can do to keep out of dd2's way. that and consistent discipline and a hope it'll get better in time.

it helps that i genuinely love the toddler years though. i do feel sorry for dd1 as she's a damn patient and understanding big sister for the most part, but i'd expect that to be repaid later on.

[maxybrown]

Oh this was lovely to read, even though we all know we are nto on our own, it is nice to hear it!!

DS to me, is like women on their period, up one min down the next. And the fork on the plate made me laugh - have exact same moments like that. My DS's speech isn't very forthcoming either and I do think that is half the problem - it is the constant droaning (in place of words) that kills me. Generally he is a happy good little boy.....but phew!!!