My oldest son is an easy breezy, go with the flow, doesn’t care what color shirt he has on type of a kid. Thank God. I thought the toddler years were going to be somewhat smooth sailing until my youngest turned two.
We are not experiencing the typical “terrible two” behavior. I was prepared for the temper tantrums, kicking, pouting, and so on. But I found myself woefully UNprepared for the reasons my two year old would be a saint one minute then have an epic melt down the next.
What really turns my curly haired little angel into the devil himself? Not getting exactly what he wants. And I mean exactly.
“I want to eat my cereal with a fork.”
“I want the blue cup. NOT THAT BLUE CUP. The other blue cup.”
“I want my brother’s dinner! PLEASE!” Please note: brother’s dinner is identical to his — even down to the plate. Added bonus: he does remember his please and thank you’s in the midst of firing off his insane demands.
He wants to wear a football jersey to school. Every day. I tried fighting it. I put him in trendy t-shirts from Nordstrom. What a disaster that was! He turned ten shades of red and the tears started as he tore the super cute shirt off his head.
Mornings are crazy enough. I finally decided I didn’t need this anymore, and I gave in. I went online and bought any NFL jersey I could find on sale. My husband thought I was crazy when he saw Chris Johnson’s Titans jersey and Jay Cutler’s Bears jersey show up at our front door. Yes, I know they don’t play for those teams anymore. But they were on sale, and our son now gets dressed with a smile on his face. Now who’s the crazy one?! Crazy like a FOX!
The jerseys turned out to be only a quick fix. Jordan’s older, cooler cousins introduced him to the world of Nike. Now Jordan will thoroughly inspect every pair of pants in the morning to make sure the Nike swoosh is on them. These Nike pants MUST be paired up with Superhero socks. If not, see you later peaceful morning. It was fun while it lasted! And I now have a pants-less child rolling around on the floor throwing Paw Patrol socks at my head. So, I give in. I let him wear his Nike pants and Superhero socks. Every day.
Is giving in helping or hurting my son?
We’ve tried both ways. If he gets out of my car the wrong way (whichever way that may be), he becomes a screaming puddle on the kitchen floor until I let him back into the car to jump out the way he wants. I’ve put my foot down on this one before. You are in the house, and you are staying in the house. One hour later, he remained on the floor crying. The next time he pulled this stunt, I immediately brought him back into the car and let him exit the vehicle “his” way. He then skipped into the house all smiles and started to play with his brother. I caved and gave in. I let my two year old win. But you know what? It made for a peaceful night, a happy child, and an even happier mommy.
When you have two toddlers, you have to pick your battles. I would love to be the strong-willed boss of the house 24/7, but that’s not reality. Sometimes you have to let your stubborn two year old win. And sometimes? That’s okay.
What do you think? Do you give in to your stubbor toddler?
