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Please tell me I am not alone.... terrible twos
So I have had a horrible week with A, and I feel like such a bad mother for feeling that way. It is DHs big travel season, so he is rarely home and it is taking a toll on me. For example, he was gone for a week came home for about 36 hours if that and left again for another week. I'm not looking forward to his big 2 week trip coming up in February.
Anyways... A is just testing the limits on EVERYTHING. She screams when I drop her off at daycare for me not to leave, but when I pick her up she screams that she does not want to come home and it takes a good 10 minutes to fight her into her carseat. I feel like I am going to hurt her one of these times I am trying to wrangle her in there. But nothing works. She screams so hard that she'll make herself puke.
The other morning, she woke up at 2:30am and decided she was ready to start her day. Well because I kept falling asleep, she ended up tearing apart my bedroom and her bedroom as well. I am just too drained.
This weekend we went to my parents house so I can get some help/relief. She is normally an angel with them. Well she kept touching things she knows not to touch. She kept trying to hit me and even tried to bite my mother.
Time outs are not working. She'll just sit and cry and then say "I'm ready to say sorry." She'll come out and say sorry and give me a kiss and then go right back to doing whatever is wrong.
I am so drained it is hard to fight her. My dad was playing with her last night and she said to him "Leave me alone Pop, I don't like you." That struck nerve with me because she never says that. Then... on our way home last night the first 40 minutes of the drive she screamed, cried and yelled to get out saying to me "I dont like you, I want to get out of the car." I cried for a good 30 minutes trying to figure out what I am doing wrong.
I know it's the terrible twos, and possibly threes but this is ridiculous.
Any tips and pointers how to work through this would be great. I was talking to my co-worker about it today and he just laughed saying that he can finally laugh about it and his kids are all in their 20's. There has to be an end...
Re: Please tell me I am not alone.... terrible twos
Oh I'm so sorry. My guess is, she's reacting to your husband's absence. They don't understand at that age why Mommy or Daddy have to go away so they do what they know how to do....push our buttons!
Their little brains are in overdrive at this age too. There's a ton of development going on up there between the ages of 2-5. It's almost like they themselves don't know how to deal with it.
You're not doing anything wrong. Stick to your guns with her and be consistent with her punishments. It's very tiring, I know, but if you give in she'll take advantage of it big time. Stay firm! And if you have to, there's nothing wrong with putting her in her room and shutting the door for 10 minutes (provided there's nothing in there that can hurt her) just so you can take some deep breaths and calm down.
I really am sorry. It's a very tough age!!
cue michael jackson
"You are not alooooone"
You're not alone! K hasn't quite reached the stage that A is in, but I'm also not around him as much anymore and he thinks DH walks on water.
So I feel your pain. It's no fun.
Just keep up what you are doing, I know it's tough!
Hugs!!
Thanks ladies... I did think part of it had to do with DH traveling, I just didn't realize how much. She can be a perfect angel, like this morning she crawled into bed with me when she woke up and gave me a kiss and a hug, all while she thought I was still asleep
Thankfully we are picking DH up tonight at the airport...
I noticed HUGE changes in Ben even long before he was 2 just as a result of my DH traveling all spring. And HUGE improvements when the travel stopped. I also have a friend whose daughter just turned 3 and when, this summer, her father started working 2 full time jobs and was never home, she turned into a terror for her mother. Things have settled down for her, and for Ben, but that type of disruption is really hard on kids. And those of us left to care for them!!!!
hang in there!!!!!! I know how you feel, it's not fun at all when you want to duct tape your child to the wall ;-) All the moms have been there!!! You're doing a great job, just take one day at a time!
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
I really don't have any tips, but you are definately not alone! I recently started working again and both of them are testing constantly. I have the same experience with daycare that you do too. Except its at SIL's and I get to hear her insulting my parenting in spanish to my other SIL.(neither know I understand a lot more than I let on) Time outs don't work well with my kids and I find myself bribing them a lot more than I care to admit.
Hang in there!
Sorry your having such a hard time! But I promise you your not alone. Landen has been a monster and is testing every limit lately. He does the same exact thing when in a time out, then when he gets out he goes right back. He is Hitting and hiding much more. Landen has started saying mean things as well but more towards nick and others none towards me yet. Sending a hug your way. sorry I have no tips because i'm in the same spot with behavior lately.