I have a 3.5yo boy, we never had ‘terrible twos’, or any issues really, behaviour wise he has almost always been great.
Over the last few months he is pushing boundaries more and more. One of our main issues is some days he completely ignores everything I say, I’ll ask (/tell) him to not climb on furniture that’s not safe to climb on, he carries on. I ask him to not wind the dog up, he carries on. I ask him to walk with me or in front of me, and he’ll run in the other direction.
I’ve read all the books people recommend, I’m all about associated consequences and he does have consequences after his first ‘chance’ and I always see them through, but nothing really seems to have an impact enough to stop him from doing it again.
The running away when we’re out has gotten so bad I’ve started having to take his old trolley out and he gets one chance to walk, and then goes in there. But it feels ridiculous and a little sad to have a 3.5yo in a pram.
My days off work with him which I used to love have become quite stressful which sounds awful, but I really struggle as everything from the minute we wake up seems to be a battle. Simple things like getting dressed, getting in the car, going to the shops. We do a lot of nice activities together both in and outside of home, but I feel there are things I ‘should’ be able to do on my days off/when he’s home from nursery like spend 10 minutes prepping tea, or a few simple short chores whilst he plays by himself but I can rarely do this as he will just find a way to make even the most toddler safe room dangerous (or he’ll for example tip toys out and throw them/draw on walls etc).
I know that developmentally pushing boundaries can be normal, but it’s so hard. In himself he is very happy, met all milestones at expected ages, has excellent vocabulary and nursery have no concerns whatsoever (they have no issues at all with him). He can be absolutely amazing and very polite and kind, but the above behaviours seem to be happening more and more and I’m not sure where to go from here.