To sometimes feel there’s very little joy with life with toddlers?

[peppaontheyoto]

I guess I must be unreasonable because my instagram feed is filled with how apparently I’m going to long for these days when I’m in my 80s (if I live that long.)

Toddler has been up since 535 (repeatedly tried to get her back to sleep and gave up at 545.) She’s ratty and grumpy. Nothing is good enough; TV, breakfast, books. Four year old is understandably feeling a bit neglected as every time he talks (which is constantly) she starts moaning. So he’s yapping away and bringing me various things to exclaim over while I’m in the shower. Nothing unusual there but just constant, endless.

I am so tired. I feel like I’m up and down all night at the moment. It isn’t always this bad but she practically never sleeps through - it used to be one wake up but lately it’s two / three and for the past few nights it’s endless, constant so that one merges into another. (Please don’t suggest co sleeping, it really doesn’t work, she never sleeps if I’m in with her and besides I’m desperate for some space.)

I am so fed up of the screeching over nothing. I know it is just toddlers and ds was the same but it’s just … you bring the wrong shoes or offer her breakfast and you get these wails and indignant screams. When I had just ds I hated it as well but there wasn’t a sibling to express displeasure at.

I am just praying it gets easier as at the moment sometimes it’s horrific!

Hang in there op x
you are not alone!
mine are adukts now , but we had 2 under2
I remember when toddler hd a mate round- I was changing baby and they experimented by rubbing bolegnese up the wall with their fingers- it was all over the wall !
i lost it and feel ashamed now .

I survived by entering their world as much as possible- doing lots of fun things - water play etc ( when they got cranky id put both in a lavander oil bath called playbath ha ha - to calm things and I would have a small glass of wine or tea watching over them or talking to them .
the water soothed them and i got a break .’similarly when mad time hit , id give them water in a pot and a paint brush and let them ‘ paint’ outside - they thought it was a treat whereas ut was my technique s at survival !
I remember the toddler kicked the baby in the eye once - caused damage- a and e- i lost it - so plenty of that too.
what worked for me was routine, also ignoring the tantrums, heading them of at the pass, and also the decision what was negotiable and what wasnt .
With those boundaries it helped me to decide what to fight and what to let go - which preserved bits of much needed and precious energy.
I have adhd and I used to also loose it a lot when over stimulated- once I ran upstairs and locked myself in the bathroom- telling dh to keep the little ***away from me - so I actually had a tantrum of my own at times !

As a toddler, DS used to brew ear infections for days before they became apparent, and his behavior was awful (understandably so!)

I found the toddler years really really hard, and often cried at the end of a day when i was a SAHM. DS speech wasn’t great until he was about 4, so he’d rage, mostly we think because he couldn’t be understood

I don’t have top tips as a result, but sending solidarity.

Oh my DS had those as well @LittleMy77 . I would have a week or so of feeling like the shittest parent as his behaviour would be awful and then we’d realise what the driver was when gunk started coming out of his ear.

They are actually both lovely but they wind one another up a lot. DD is jealous and possessive towards me and poor DS can’t even have a cuddle without her stomping over. In turn, he winds her up and has so many questions I have occasionally said to stop which I always feel so bad about but sometimes it’s too much!

Now refusing to nap and she’s been up since 545 and disturbed night 😩😩

I might just have her in bed at 6 at this rate.