Toddler parents. How're you holding up?

[gonegrl]

We've hit 2 years and 3 months and dd has decided to own the terrible twos. It's like living with the exorcist. (I would still take this any day over a newborn).

How are other toddler parents coping? We're getting take out, because fuck this shit, I've been practising my gentle "let's stay calm, sweetheart", "I know you're frustrated dd, tell me what's wrong" all week and with toddler in bed, it's time to eat my feelings.

Oh man. I've had terrible terrible days and all of a sudden it gets less. I felt the 'pick your battles' advice was what got me through. Oh you want the orange bowl, not the blue bowl now? Fine, crisis averted. But: absolutely not, you will NOT play with the knives. (Madness ensues.) Pick the battles. Have 5 tantrums instead of 10, but make sure you stick up for what's really important. All of a sudden the colour bowl or which way the sandwich or apples is cut won't matter anymore.
Language development and understanding helped hugely. Hang in there. Try not to fight w the spouse and get aligned on how to react?

@StrawberryFields2023 oh yeah aligning with dh has helped massively, we've really been focussing on it the last few days and it's been so much easier. I think it's clearer for toddler too when me and dh are both on the same page and giving g the same message.