Parenting.
It’s hard. Really hard!
Why doesn’t anybody tell you this?
This week has been tough. Since being poorly I’m still not 100%. As a result of this I’m trying to get everything back to normal, after being in hospital, and I’m trying to not over do it in the process.
However there is only so much you can do with a toddler around. He is a nightmare at the moment, I’m going to be honest. What is the point in sugar-coating what’s going on? Everyone already, wrongly, thinks that parenting is a walk in the park!
Terrible Two strop in full swing…
Feeling deflated
After a talk with his childminder about how horrendously potty training is going at her house. After also talking to her about how stubborn he is there and how he is not listening, I was deflated!
Therefore the last thing I needed was for him to be a pain at home.
Unfortunately things just got worse…
- I’d been ironing. Would he stay away from the ironing board? NO.
- He wanted a Banana. Did he squish it into my new sofa? YES.
- His favourite toys are his pliers, screwdriver and hammer from his workbench. Did he whack the TV with them? YES.
- He has a box of his favourite books in the living room. Did he rip a book? YES.
- He has some eye drops for his sore eyes. Did he try putting them in my eyes? YES.
- I took said eye drops off him. Did he start smacking me for taking them off him? YES.
- There was a jug of water for the iron. Did he start to drink it? YES. Did he start to walk around with it? YES. Would he listen? NO. Could he manage to spill it on the extension cable? YES.
Did Mummy get to the point where she couldn’t handle it any more… YES!
When did I become a shouty mum?
I’d had enough of Alfie not listening, feeling like I was talking to myself and I’d clearly had enough.
I never wanted to be a shouty mum. It doesn’t achieve anything. I know that. However, sometimes you get so worked up that you feel there isn’t anything else you can do.
After all of the things that he did, ripping the book, hitting the TV, hitting me. That was it. I’d had enough of shouting, it seems like Alfie was determined to ignore me whatever I tried. I gave up… I tried to ignore him, and just moved things out of his way. Or I took things off him that he was using to do something naughty.
But then he got the water and poured it on the extension cable whilst looking at me and grinning.
That was it. I shouted so loud, he jumped. He put the water down and he ran to the “naughty step”. We don’t even use the naughty step!!
Whilst I cleaned up, he came creeping back in. He looked at me and said “Mummy, I’m not sorry! I’m naughty…”.
That was the straw that broke the camels back.
Hence why Dan walked in just 10 minutes later, I was sat on the floor in tears. I’d finally cracked.
Another strop…
Parenting… I’m packing it in!
Parenting a terrible two toddler is flipping hard work and as a result I feel like packing it in!
I’d have quite happily sold him to the next person to walk past the house. In fact I’d have given him away!
If you follow me on twitter you may have seen my tweet. It is a bit swear-y so I’ll leave a link here if you want to read it.
How do you cope with the terrible twos? How on earth do you not lose your s*** every single day? Alfie had only been home for all of about 3 hours and I wanted to stop this parenting lark!
Conquering the toddler
Firstly, we need to acknowledge that parenting a toddler can sometimes:
- Require a ridiculous amount of energy
- Turn you into a broken record
- Bring out the most anger you’ve ever felt
- Put pressure on your marriage
Once I got past this, last night, I realised that there is no point in trying to reason with a terrible two toddler. I need to connect with him and guide him to do the things we encourage him to do. The fun things, the kind things, the good things. Shouting at him most likely made everything worse. Oh and lack of sleep for the both of us. Nothing ever goes well with a tired mummy and a tired toddler does it?
Today is a new day.
I’m under no illusion that I’ll have a shouty mum day again sometime soon. Or I’ll lose my s*** again and have another meltdown.
A happy Mummy and a happy Alfie
That’s parenting. The highs, the lows and the downright crazy.
Keeping them alive is what matters most, right?
Mummy Fox xx
