Does anyone else feel like all they do is get cross with their 2yo?

[LittleMyDancing]

I feel like every day is spent threatening, cajoling, negotiating, shouting and pleading to get through various necessary steps, from eating breakfast to getting into or out of pajamas.

Everything seems to require negotiation, and quite often reaches the stage of Mummy counting to five, or threatening something.

where did all the fun go? I know it's full moon and I have bad PMT, but still.

Oh yes I can sympathise with this. Is it a ds or dd? mine is ds and suddenly seems to have gone from cute toddler to stubborn tantrummy toddler! he always wants to do the opposite of what I want and makes a terrible mess in the process. I also get bad pmt and it just makes it all twice as much effort doesn't it?
are you taking anything for the pmt? I am trying magnesium this month and might try EPO - anything really!

Sorry, had to go and conduct extensive talks in order to achieve pajamas, stories and bed......feel like I could sort out the Middle East problem in seconds flat after all that!

It is a DS, and it just feels like everyhing is an uphill struggle. Would love to be the sort of Mummy who can jolly him along or distract him every time with something fun, but at the moment it seems mostly to just be me getting cross and threatening him with things.

As for PMt - have just started taking starflower oil again, which used to work very well for me (couldn't take it for a while for various reasons), so fingers crossed it'll get better. It's particularly blinking awful this time!

starflower oil - hadn't thought of that one. Mind you if I tried everything that is 'recommended' for PMT I would be rattling! especially when you add in homeopathic, reflexology, acupuncture etc. etc...

I know what you mean....my reflexologist recommended it, apparently it has much more of the right stuff than evening primrose.

Seemed to make a difference, I was never this mental before I stopped taking it.

Mind you, a lot's happened since then!

good luck with that then, perhaps I should try it too and we can compare notes next month! I'll have to do some research on the full moon thing!

It does happen. At some point between 2 and 4 they realise they can assert themselves and life gets v hard for a while. THen better again. GOod luck.

not just my 2yo, 4yo too.. In fact more so with my 4yo so you've got that to look forward to

better when madamez?

I think 3-4 is particularly hard as they demand a lot, but you can't get them to do many things for themselves. Also it is quite difficult to reason with them.

Once they get to 4 or 5, they gain more independence. My 6 and 8 year old DSs do things for me now like work the DVD player, answer the phone, get drinks and play happily for hours on end. They also fight quite a bit which is horrendous if you are feeling pre-menstrual.

I tried Agnus Castus for PMT and found it helped a bit.

deafto - you've just reminded me. My 2 yr old is the same at the moment. Friend at toddler group told me it was just a phase

It could be that you're talking too much, too fast and your little one doesn't understand what you're on about.

Keep it REALLY simple. One instruction at a time, said slowly and model what you want them to do. They're good at imitating you at this age and it's good to take advantage of this.

Remember to distract as well rather than get into battles if you can.

Of course you'll lose your cool sometimes with a 2 year old but if you can chill out and slow down a bit it should help.

don't look, you've just reminded me too - DD1 was fantastic the minute she turned 3 - like the terrible 2's were completely over. It has only started again relatively recently.
So by that reckoning I'll get hmmm 6 months peace between DD1 turning 5 & DD2 heading into being 4... note to self: Reaallly enjoy those 6 months!!

DD was ok at 2, she didn't do tantrums or anything - she started driving me mad when she was 4.5 and I definitely felt like you do then. I always say that we didn't do Terrible Two's but instead we did F**king Fours :-)

me! although i try to praise the good, i seem to always be shouting, or starting sentences with 'don't / stop / get down from.../ get off / put X back' Thing is, he's not actually too bad in himself, but i'm so tired and grumpy i make it worse.

i'm trying to pick my battles now though- for example this morning he refused to brush his teeth, so i just said fine and brushed mine and DS2s and left it. Normally i'd be cajoling / shouting / wrestling him to do it.