To ask if anybody actually enjoys parenting toddlers?

[huk]

Does anyone actually enjoy parenting toddlers? I’m actually miserable because of my toddlers behaviour, which isn’t me trying to ‘blame’ them; the responsibility for the behaviour ultimately lies with me but the crying and whining and screaming and inability to reason with them is just getting to me. I feel absolutely trapped in a screaming prison.

yes I loved it. Easier than parenting a teenager.

dd Yes bus ds omg!! Doesn’t listen , breaks everything, has had years of tantrums the list is endless. At 4 still runs off to the road . So dangerous.My Dd was such a calm toddler

Me! I love toddlers. It’s my favourite stage. Peak cuteness and the emergence of personality. I love how chaotic and insane they are!

It’s the infant stage I don’t enjoy. The first six months are brutal. And so dull.

Mine was very calm until quite recently. Eating has always been poor but lately I’ve actually wondered if I should even bother cooking anything because it just gets thrown in the bin.

I’m a bit lost as to where you read that into my post.

It is definitely toddlers, not others!

Whilst there were charming moments and pleasant days it was mostly mediocre to awful. My second two were the worst, totally relentlessly hard work, tantrums all the time, endless nonsense. My elder boy was easiest.

Toddler years were my worst parenting phase. And as I wasn’t very happy and so I think they weren’t very happy, and so the cycle went on.

I loved them as babies and very much enjoying all non-toddler years.

I’m not very maternal but ages 2-4 are the best for me. They’re like little drunk mates.

Whereas I’ve found 6+ when they start gibbing shite, but without the cuteness, quite wearing.

It depends on what your toddler is like. My DS is 4 and has never had a single tantrum in his life. He’s a joy to be around because he’s never a challenge. I’m sure I’d think differently had I experienced what some other parents have.

Yanbu

I found it hard work.

I mean looking back there were lover things,
places you could take them, activities you could do.

But at the time it was very hard work.

I loved it, but then I found the baby stage really hard...

They're all different, and we all have different strengths/weaknesses/triggers as parents.

I’m the opposite! I find parenting teens (well I have an older teen and a pre teen) a doddle in comparison! Even when they drive you mad and give you emotional worries it’s easier.

I love toddlers. Youngest is 2 and I think it’s the most fun age! They’re so funny and full of character but still young and cuddly.

It was the best of times and the worst of times.
I have 10 years perspective; I'd give anything to have a few weeks back when they were 1.5 - 4.
And then happily return to how they are now ❤️

I was seriously ill when dd1 was a baby so did enjoy the toddler years more than I thought I would because it had been so hard when she was tiny. However, I also found endless tantrums and zero sleep incredibly difficult. It took me a good 3 years to get the nerve to have another baby and dd2 was born a few days before dd1's 4th birthday. SO much easier from the word go, she never had a tantrum I couldn't believe it. If dd1 had been the same as dd2 at the baby stage I'd have had lots of children! I certainly prefer it when children can tell you what hurts and you see their personality developing.

I loved the years when both were at primary school. Secondary and college ages were challenging at times but not too bad compared to many friends' stories. .

These days, dd1 (nearly 22) is ND, still VERY emotionally needy and exhausting at times but wonderful. Dd2 (nearly 18) is SO stroppy and self centred a lot of the time, completely different to when she was tiny! But also a lovely person underneath and I have total faith that she'll be easier to "parent" as a YA than her sister has been. All depends on so many factors but toddler stage can certainly be incredibly hard.

Oh yes I've got one of these. Will happily starve if it's not one of his safe foods. He's 3.5 and still non verbal so not being able to know what is wrong is fucking hard. I empathise, totally get it

I had 3 dc. Loved the toddler stage but ..especially for dc1 hated the teen stage. Had learn a bit more before the other 2. I think everyone's personality matches to a different stage and l was more at ease with little ones. Saying that l was a SAHM so was not wrecked from work, no one else was minding them and introducing different routines . Maybe l just liked to be in charge and l certainly wasn't when it came to teens. So hopefully you will be over the worst and really enjoy your older kids.

My eldest was a calm delight as a toddler, really interesting to spend time with as he was like a sponge in terms of wanting to learn about the world. My youngest didn't seem to enjoy being a toddler at all. He would mainly just rage against the world, miserable in his skin,obviously feeling his every move was thwarted by this person who was trying to keep him alive. When we were out and he couldn't get his own way, he'd hold my hand but then make his legs go floppy so his whole body dangled from my one hand. And when when he was at home he'd just throw himself on the floor in disgust and misery. 😂 He turned me grey!

DH got fed up one day when he'd not long turned 3 with the throwing himself on the floor and told him very sternly not to get back up again until he told him he could. And if he chose to do that every time he got annoyed, that's what would happen, he could stay there till one of us told him he could get up. It did the trick, and he stopped doing it!

The upside of it all was that when he was about 4, he became generally the sunniest person in a room, everyone loved him. He was very entertaining and vivacious, wore his heart on his sleeve totally. But of course the downside was that if he was angry for any reason there were still occasions when he'd be properly grumpy, but by then he'd do it in such a way that even that was quite entertaining to watch.

He's been a brilliant teenager overall and I very much enjoy spending time with him. So hang on in there! Try to remember that they won't be like that forever!

It’s very difficult and a complete failure of today’s society that we’re not entrenched in communities that would help this - through giving parents help, distraction, relief, companionship etc etc. I have always worked and doing so was always about having something else in my life. My one best friend who is a genuine SAHM is now a functioning alcoholic

I love some bits — the affection, the love you Mummys and the cute phrases they say, the excitement at seeing a ladybird etc. but the tantrums really get me down sometimes! You have to try and shake it off and focus on the nice bits.

I absolutely loved the toddler years. I’m enjoying this stage (7 and 9) much less and I feel really guilty about that.

Oh yeah the food thing was awful too. I remember the days of him refusing just about everything.

Now he's a student and living away from home. He hasn't died yet from starvation! Still won't eat fruit, though....

I enjoyed most of the toddler era as didn’t seem to get huge tantrums with either of them. They were born 15 months apart and once the second dc was a toddler they played well together and always seemed to be laughing.

I loved my first when he was 3. Yes there were tantrums but he was very sweet. I find the 1-2 year old watching them walk around constantly and stopping them put stuff in their mouths so tedious and boring I have to say. I don’t know how anyone could enjoy that

I love the toddler stage. My youngest is 4 and I am sad that I wont get to do it again. I work with very young children too.

I think I must have been lucky my three weren't difficult toddlers they were all really funny. It was from around the ages of 8 to 11 I found the most annoying. When they think they know everything.