Is it normal for your toddler to drive you crackers?!

[teacher54321]

I have one ds, and all the usual disclaimers, he's gorgeous and bright and affectionate etc and doing really well. Doesn't whinge much, has occasional short lived tantrums so I certainly don't think he's any worse than any toddlers but don't know if my reaction is normal!

The sheer intensity of parenthood is Absolutely overwhelming for me, the fact that you are never off duty and dealing with general toddler irritations (running off at bathtime, not wanting to get dressed etc) all trivial in themselves but sometimes I just feel so cross which makes me sad. I don't want to be shouty mummy. But it's just so frustrating! Do other people feel like this too?!

Dd isn't even 2 yet, but she is starting to tantrum. Thankfully at present they only last a minute or two but I am dreading them getting worse as I have found I have no patience for it!

I'm currently employing the tactic that if she doesn't want to do something (come to bathroom to have nappy changed, brush her teeth etc), I offer that she can ride her trike to do said task. It's a yellow and black scuttlebug and the best £16 I ever spent! It does result in me, dd, trike and usually an assortment of cuddly toys all vying for space in the bathroom, but hey, we're actually in the bathroom! A victory in itself.

This thread has cheered me up mightily.

Took ds1 25mo into London today to the science museum. They have a good bit in the basement for toddlers with water play. And he loved running around the space rocket gallery shouting ROCKETS at the top of his lungs.

However these nice bits of the day lasted approximately 42 mins in total. For the other 4 and a half hours we were out the house we had:

• tantrum cos he didn't wanna go in the buggy to the station
• trying to jump off the chairs on the train
• crying for no discernible reason all the way from tube to museum
• refusing to eat any expensive lunch we bought him in the museum cafe, whining and standing up in high chair shouting at other diners
• basically having a screaming wrestling match with me whilst I tried to change his nappy in front of everyone else in the baby change
• crying all the way back to the tube in the buggy. Reasons unclear.

Since getting home this afternoon he has slept for an hour and then embarked on a 3 hour campaign of destruction. He is a real shitty grump today and doesn't want to play with any of his toys. Just wants to fight or watch tv.

So I have given up and Cars 2 is now on and he has square eyes.

Days like today I wonder why we bother trying to do nice days out when it's always so much hard work for such little fleeting moments of joy - like seeing his little face in the space gallery.

We had a bit of a day of it today with DS (3y). Sometimes he's been fab and so loveable but other times.. Highlights include him trying to run off in the car park, then defiantly stating that running off isn't naughty and then laughing when I told him off. I am exhausted now!

It's lucky we weren't planning on doing much tonight! I doubt I'll last til 9 at this rate let alone 12! Xx

Yes yes yes! My dd is only 18 months but I've done it before with ds and I can see the signs.

It's wonderful but draining, frustrating, deafening and physically exhausting!

Love my dc but I'm not doing it again ever

Oh the running off in car parks thing-he's just constantly bolting and it does my bloody head in!!!

This thread is making me realise though that misery loves company-and I feel a sort of motherly solidarity-we're all going to get through this!!

Dd1 was a dream (although I worked 4 days a week)dtds are more challenging than I ever imagined and I love my 2.5 days a week at work then feel guilty for wanting to go full time to regain my sanity. Regularly feel like I'm failing dds as I'll plan a nice day but dtds will have other ideas and throw tantrums like a tag team.

Funny, I was just wondering to myself earlier whether there is anyone out there who actually enjoys the baby / toddler years...looks like I'm not alone in counting down the years until freedom!

DS (3) can be infuriating but is definitely getting better with age. Now he will fight me on getting dressed /undressed / into the bath / out of the bath / into the car / out of the car / etc etc maybe 6 times out of 10 rather than every. Single. Bloody. Time. Every. Day. as it used to be.

Unfortunately I've gone and fucked things up by having DD two months ago! Oh well, only 3 more years of sleep deprivation and insanity to go...

Today's car park was especially tricky. It was busy and there were cars coming from different angles. I'd put my keys back in my bag when I'd been paying for the ticket and so was trying to find my keys when I asked him to stand next to me for a second. He took the opportunity to bolt.

Our next stop was tescos. I wasn't going to make the same mistake. I put him straight on the child reins and straight in the trolley. That went down well!

The good news is I bought some bitter lemon at tescos to go with the sloe gin for tonight. Alcohol and chocolate are now the only way forward!

god yes!

Mine is 3 exactly, and she is so funny and clever, but she is also so annoying!
she never stops talking (no idea where she got that from ), and when she's tired she's like a whirlwind.

We're being forced to go out tonight to a party, and she hasn't had her evening nap (she never sleeps either - she'll go to sleep in the evening at about 6, when everyone else's children are going to bed, but she'll be wide awake again by midnight, when we're trying to go to bed!), so she's running orund the house, shouting, calling out, making funnies, dancing, aking a mess, etc. It's just so hard to deal with!

but apart from this and her eczema, she's just so lovely and wonderful.

She made up a really clever game the other day.
We've got a bookmark with Woody from Toy Story on it, and she came up to me, bookmark folded, "mummy, I can't find Woody"
I went "oh, well I don't know where he is, let's look for him" and she produced the bookmakr "here he is! "
very clever for her age, i thought.
we've been playing the game with variations since - she thinks it's hilarious!

see, and now, i've just put cream on her feet, and i've turned around and she's smeared cream all in her hair.

that's what they do.

DS1 is a bad sleeper, and the number of tantrums he has per day is directly in proportion with the amount of sleep he hasn't had. Today, after the umpteenth telling off, he wailed "but mammy I don't want to be naughty!" I had to reply with"well stop being naughty then!" They make no sense at times - just like tiny drunken despots!

ScaredyCat - how did Marie Antoinette know that Postman Pat is the worst postman ever?

I'm drained! DS is refusing to go to bed using the potty and weewee defence.

I've been trying to potty train him but have abandoned for a few months (he's only 2 and 2 weeks). He knows when he needs to wee and poo but seems to prefer doing it in his wardrobe/toy box/my new cream shagpile rug

All of a sudden now that it's bedtime he can't wee in his nappy and neeeeeds to use the potty ten times.

And he's kicking me in the neck while pretending to shore.

I second whoever said toddlers are arseholes!

I did the washing up today with my DS's head stuck up my jumper, to the tune of plaintive muffled cries of 'pick my uuupppp' emanating from my navel area every few seconds.

Was only saying to DH tonight, if only someone else could do the next 2 years for us. She is 1.5 at the mo.

We had got used to independant DS who was 5 when she was born. Toddlerdom has hit us for 6!

I just stick the bear/backpack/reins whenever we are out. She is a runner.

A large to us all.

Joining in :o

SIL jokingly said tonight that when she has kids, I can babysit. I said NO and I wasn't even slightly joking. I'm not going through all of this again with someone else's children. I am both stressed by the sheer relentlessness of it all and bored out of my mind. Counting the days until I can get back to work. My manager told us all to relax over Christmas: HA!

That was perhaps too serious for this thread, sorry.

Oh god, YES! Dh had a day off today and I had had enough by 9am so slammed my way to bed and refused to get up again. Mature, I know

I regularly want to run away and it's reassuring that others feel this way too. DS, 3.4, was a lovely two year old....what happened? probably dd, 8 months

Ds's answer to every request to do something is 'I not'. Said haughtily and with disdain. 'Ds can you put your shoes on please?' Silence. 'I not' except nappy changes which are met with hysterical screaming and writhing.

I am hoping 2015 is the year that he becomes human.

I honestly (and stupidly) thought he'd turned a corner a while back. We'd had a couple of weeks of near loveliness.

Then it all kicked off again. He was lulling me into a false sense of security!

Please 2015 bring us some peace!

Margot - is that the backpack that she insists on holding herself "my trap mummy, my hold trap", thus defeating the object of the backpack in the first place.
We got to a stage where she wouldn't even put it on "my cuddle rabbit mummy", and then refused to even let me take it out with us.
But will she hold hands when we're about to cross a road? will he fuck.

Thankfully, she's very good at "stop!" "let's go!" to cross the road - even though there are some that she doesn't understand are roads (like car parks and driveways)

Dh has been off all over xmas and has done 95% of dressing, nappies etc. dreading tuesday although ds starting nursery. Yeeeeees!!

The picture book My Big Shouting Day by Rebecca Patterson is fantastic if you're looking to help your toddler understand their, um, anger issues. It's also good therapy for parents of dictators:

"And mummy said could I please keep my voice down and could I PLEASE stop lying on pavements.

nickel "my trap" - she is v astute!!!

Tbh DD is only 1.5, so doesn't resist so that time will probably come. I often left DS to tantrum on the floor wearing the packpack and I'd walk away, which kind of defeats the object of the trap backpack!

I didn't mean to sound smug like I had the answer. It just works for us, for now.