The Terrible Twos and More

Oh my, how did we live through them?  I am not quite sure looking back.  My oldest wanted attention 24/7.  She would sit outside our bedroom door when we were busy having “Mommy and Daddy” time.  She would pester her younger sister who liked playing by herself until she started crying.

Her sister was 18 months younger.  For the first months after her sister was born, she would be looking for her if she was out of her eyesight.  When Debbie, the sister, started walking in a walker, Sandy would chase her around the room pulling her pigtails.  It was her way of playing at the time.  Needless to say, her sister didn’t see it that way.

Before her sister was old enough to interact, she would approach other kids when we were out.  Just staring, hoping for a friendly response.  It got embarrassing after awhile.

It’s about this age, kids stop adhering to the sound of your voice.  They are curious about any and everything.  They even start voicing the word, “No” around this time.

Many mothers fall victim to an urge to blame themselves for the obvious ‘fact’ that they screwed up somewhere the first year.  Otherwise, why in the world would their child be acting this way?  Nope.  Kids test boundaries of authority at home until they move out.  Then, many spend the rest of their life testing similar boundaries as they move through life.

Teen years are a similar, yet more horrifying.  I remember the first time my youngest daughter stomped her feet, yelled and cursed as loud as she good.  The final note was her stomping off to her room and slamming the door so hard I thought it would come off the hinges.  My ex stood there looking at me as if I had suddenly gone insane instead of our daughter. She had been talking to me before the outburst.  I told him I would pick up the conversation when she came back down to earth and quit acting like someone I couldn’t recognize.  (Don’t try and pull a teen out of a tantrum unless they are hurting themselves or others.  They eventually get tired.)

Kids will say no, look at you as if you are nuts when hearing a command, and simply sit down and do nothing when they don’t want to move.  None of this and I repeat none of this is a reflection on whether or not you are a good parent.  I know we all get embarrassed when one of our kids acts up in public.  It could simply be that the child in question is having a particularly bad day and doesn’t really care whether or not they make Mom or Dad look like idiots.