My kids won't stop crying.

[Pullingmyhairout12]

My kids are driving me nuts with their persistent crying and whining. They were never cryers until recently and now its about everything.
One is 5 and one is 2.
The 2 year old is having tantrums galore and cries at not getting her way. The 5 yeat old cries about school, about getting told off, about a friend who won't play with her, about dying, about me dying about everyone dying, about me going out in an evening, about her dinner if she doesn't like it.
Cry cry cry cry cry.
What the heck is going on here?
I'm fed up of it.
5 year old is clearly going through some anxiety issues at the moment in terms of death and being separated from the people she loves, but it's constant crying. Particularly at bedtime.
And in the mornings about school.
Or if her sister is playing with one of her toys. She was always so laid back and now it couldn't be more different. The youngest had always been a high maintenance child, but temper tantrums are a whole different ball game.
I'm a bit fed up in their company to be honest and I'm not sure how I will last 2 weeks of Christmas meltdowns.
Any tips for whiney, crying kids?

Sleep for them
Long baths, cups of tea, wine if you do for you
This time of term is monstrous

Have you spoken to your older one to find out what she's anxious about? And where the death worries have come from?

My DS went through a similar stage and it is so wearing!

Its almost the end of term, they are tired, they are excited and overwhelmed with Christmas. Can you give some early nights? Hang on in there!

They are so so tired. I have DC same age, five year old is crying every morning before school and 2 year old is testing every possible boundary! I’m also dreading having two weeks to fill, it’s going to be painful.

So very true all of these reasons. I have started the Christmas build-up a lot later than most because I find a whole month of it from 1st December is too much for all of us, but it's not helped by all the hype leading up to the Christmas nativity. Baths and wine are my favourite things at the moment.
I guess I'm concerned I've gone wrong with eldest DD somewhere in recent months. I can not work out how a child so laid back and carefree has become so uptight and anxious all the time. School hasn't helped if I'm honest. I've always encouraged imaginative, free play at home and school is so regimented. She often gets upset if the teacher tells her she's written on the wrong page or takes too long on an activity- it's like I haven't quite prepared her enough for the nature of school.
Possibly because I'm a teacher myself. I've wanted to give her as much freedom and flexibility as possible at home, but now she just seems completely overwhelmed by school life and the expectations.

I remember DD came home from school once and had a full on crying breakdown for about half an hour. Her reason? The girl next door picked a blade of grass from our garden. A single blade of grass.

Hahahaha! How dare she @cheeseboardcriminal?