Terrible twos, that's the name for this all.the.time. crying/tantrum throwing, right?
Here's how most days go (I even took some crappy cell phone pics so you can get the full effect, you're welcome).
Emily is awake anytime between 6 and 6:30.
Get her up for school. Some mornings she cries unless one of us stands and holds her- do not sit down or put her down, that will cause more crying.
Try to get her dressed.....good lord. Take off her socks, crying. Take off her pajama top, crying. Put clean clothes on, after chasing her around the room. Combing that hair without crying- an impossible feat.
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| I changed her pants. |
Give her some milk and hope that the milk will keep her occupied for a few minutes while I try to get dressed for work. Usually more crying at the gate while she screams, "mommmmmmy" over and over until I get my butt back out to her.
Go to school- walk in the door and a transformation to the happiest, best behaved little girl happens miraculously. Teachers at school have never seen her throw a fit. Strange.
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| school is the best! |
Pick the kids up from school. If I pick Gavin up instead of her, crying. If I don't give her milk as soon as she gets in the car, crying. If I don't figure out if she wants to walk up the steps or be carried up the steps- you guessed it, crying.
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| yesterday she wanted to walk up the steps, today she wants to be carried. Duh mom. |
Make dinner with the toddler chanting "mickey" following me all over the kitchen, opening drawers, throwing tupperware and towels everywhere. Steve and Gavin are happily playing in the living room. Try to get Emily to go play with them, more crying at the gate- "mommmmmmmy".
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| blurry because she's trying to yank the gate out of the wall. |
Get her to eat the dinner- *might* happen, as long as there is ranch for dipping.
Play outside- usually a happy time.
Bath time- depends on her mood, sometimes bath time is fun, other times- not so much. Drying off is always cry inducing.
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| I wanted out of the tub but I DO NOT want to be dried off |
Bed time- easy peasy, thank God.
Oh Emily, I love you so much. I just wish I knew what was going through your little toddler head so I could fix what makes you cry. As I've heard many, many times from your Grandpa Mark- "she's just like you were". I'm sorry mom & dad.
Are your toddlers as
And if you have a toddler and haven't seen this- go now and get a good laugh.
Happy Friday.
Some of these made me laugh with empathy. Avery is SUPER challenging in the morning about 80% of the time.The other times she doesn't have a cold and has slept well and then she is pretty easy.
ReplyDeleteUsually after we get over the morning hump things get easier. She is in a pretty good mood by the time we get to daycare/friends/grandpa's. Figures.
She does ok in the evening as long as she is not overly tired. But dear Lord help us when she is overly tired. It looks about like your post!
I have hear the 3's are worse, maybe E is getting it all out right now?
Thanks for sharing, it is always nice to know there are other parents who don't always feel like everything is perfect. I love my little girl, but that doesn't mean she doesn't frustrate me, wear me out, and test my patience.
These pictures even make me laugh and you should have seen me laughing while taking them- E did not appreciate the humor at all. The 3's better not be worse, seriously.
DeleteOh man this has got to be so hard on you. Crying babies/toddlers are a tough one. Savannah has been SUPER moody after school now. I think all the brain usage is making her extra tired. At least you know you were like this as a toddler and out grew it at some point, right?
ReplyDeleteI'm not actually sure I've grown out of it Liz, hahaha!
DeleteThis actually cracked me up Bridg. I have days that are identical to all of this. And they come out of NOWHERE. Our worlds will never be perfect, but hey, at least we have these little angels, whether they are being terrors sometimes or not! :)
ReplyDeleteSo true, I wouldn't trade any of the tantrums for anything!
DeleteThis is my house right now too and all I did was read the title and scroll through to look at the pictures! I'll be back to comment for real in a bit when I have time to actually read the post, but just know, you are SOOO not alone!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you could get some of the same pics with Chloe!!
DeleteOk, back for my actual comment. Yes, totally get the crying in our house. Does she ever hit or throw things though (besides the tupperware)? Chloe usually follows a tantrum by trying to hit me usually or throw something. She also has down pat the turn, the humpf, and the sulk away. You'd think it was the end of the world. We usually say something like, "you can't cry with a puppy on your shirt," or "you can't cry when you have a pretty dress on" something to distract her and make her look at what we've just described. Just when we think she hasn't had a tantrum in a while, she proves us wrong. I've noticed kids like to do that! :) Poor E, wish they all knew they didn't have it so rough.
DeleteUgg we get the tantrums followed by hits and throwing almost everytime right now :( It is awful and makes it worse than just a tantrum of hearing her scream. The hitting needs to stop!!! :/
DeleteYou are not alone. B has been basically kicking my ass lately. Half of the time I don't even know why she is screaming at me. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteI did crack up at these pictures though. You are so not alone. I keep telling Lonnie I need to get up and get everything ready for school before she wakes up because she HAS to be held all morning long. And the bath. Dear God.
Toddlers are exhausting!
I texted Lonnie yesterday and told him that B was the sweetest little TERROR. But I wouldn't change a thing about her!
Also, I totally appreciate you keeping it real. It's refreshing to know everything isn't always rainbows and glitter. ;)
DeleteGirl you know I'm gonna keep it real.
DeleteWow, that sounds rough. Are you counting grey hairs yet? It has to get better soon, right?
ReplyDeleteWe don't have the tears or fits, but we have the whining. I'm not sure which is more annoying - full on fits or the never ending whine. "NOOOOO MOMMY." " I DON'T WANT TO DADDY NOOOO!" Argh.
ReplyDeleteThank you for keeping it real and reminding many of us that we are not alone in this crazy toddler stage!!!! Arrrg!! Lids is actually having a good week so I don't want to jinx anything but the past couple weeks have looked very much like this and I have even been tempted to take photos and do a similar post!! The screaming and crying over everything is just too much! Why why why!?!!?...Oh and the 'can't put her down or she will scream and cry' part is the worst. We just entered that stage while in Canada and I was hoping it was just a vacation thing but it has stayed.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to soooo much of this right now. But hey, I did hear that if they are really tough around age 2, they'll be easier around age 3. Let's go with that theory, shall we?! ;)
I client's husband was a middle school principal and explained that the same thing that happens to teenagers happens to 2-3 year olds. Their brain is burning off unneeded connectors and it causes like a brain electrical storm of sorts. They don't know what is happening, we don't know what is happening, and the only way they can express it is through a lot of emotions! He said they could literally be considered insane because of what is going on in their brain. So I try to remember that when Jack throws a bizarre fit and I am looking at him like an alien lifeform.
ReplyDeleteShe'll get through it....I mean you obviously did.
I also felt like Jack was MUCH more emotional with me than Andy. It was frustrating to be the one he would be crying/whining at for hours on end and then Andy would walk in and a switch would trigger and he'd be fine. I guess he just felt safer expressing emotions with me, but it is hard not to get worn down over it.
People told me that too that Chloe might get more angry with me or show her emotions because she felt safer with me. Not sure if that's true because everything points to her feeling safer with JJ, but I'm going with that theory because it makes me feel better. Honestly I can't imagine what is going on through their little heads, and I do remember reading an article saying something to the effect of a toy falling on the floor is literally the end of the world to them (or whatever makes them cry). I had to laugh at your comment about looking at Jack like an alien b/c sometimes we just stop and look at Chloe too like WTF???
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