2 year old dilemmas
“Nope!”
“My milt (milk)” (always said with a perfectly-faked cry)
“No water. No sandwich. No shower. No bath. No sleep”
This is the current soundtrack around our place. There is no doubt we’ve hit the terrific twos here. The word ‘no’ is completely overused, to the point that I get so sick of saying and hearing it by the end of the day.
I know we are just going through that stage where boundaries are being tested and most of the time I actually find the naughty stuff he does highly entertaining (though we try our best not to show him that).
But there are also those moments, especially when exhaustion is running high and tolerance is very low, that I can feel every muscle tense in frustration when he has yet another go at something he has just been told not to do.
We probably should have known this was coming. Andrew and I are both fairly stubborn and I do believe we have created the combined super-version of ourselves.
He often looks us straight in the eye and gives a sly smiles as he empties the entire contents of the salt container on the floor (or whatever else is on the naughty agenda today). Those eyes asking ‘well, what are you going to do about this?’
Apparently he is also immune to discipline, or is at least smarter than any we have so far tried. Our current method of getting him to sit on his rug in his room and then come apologise was quickly turned into his own private game of send his parents insane. Now when we rhetorically ask (fancy a two year old not getting the fact that we are being rhetorical!) ‘do you want to go to your room?’ He responds – ‘yes please’ and runs off happily.
Parenting fail.
Or is it?! How do you discipline your two year old?
We had exactly same response from Archer. If you keep doing that you will go to the naughty corner. “Ok” would be his response and off he would trot. I am STILL trying to find something that works. At the moment the toys, tv, friend visits, etc are getting time out. I told him that I would take the tv away the other day and the little bugger made me have to follow through with the threat. There I was carting the tv down the hallway looking for a place to hide it.
I get sick of being told no by my toddler!
Everything I ask him to do, he responds with a “No Mommy. I am just going to do this.” By the end of the day I am so tired of negotiating (a nice word for bribing) that I want to scream and say just do what I ask and then you can do your thing without me nagging you!
I have TWO in this phase right now. Terrible Two x 2!