Yesterday was so bad that he nearly made me commit hara-kiri in the school playground. First he managed to kick a hole in a fence (it was about to be pulled down thankfully), then he pushed over a younger child, poured juice all over the ground and rolled in it and finally had an almighty tantrum (LOUD/SCREAMY/TEARS THE LOT) as I wrestled him back into the pushchair.
“You need to be firmer with him,” said one granny who was smart enough to notice my face and move away quickly. I did also notice the various looks of other parents which ranged from sympathy to pity and even irritation (my all time favourite). Having been through this all before I also know the rote – ignore all looks, stay calm, distract said child, warn said child, use the naughty step, and finally in my case do lots and lots of mummy yelling!
My bible last time around was Toddler Taming by Dr Christopher Green. A fantastic book that reminds me constantly that “toddlers are not adults and have limited sense, limited and attention spans and the big one – toddlers don’t think like we do“.
This thinking helped a lot this morning when my son decided it would be a great idea to climb onto the table (he did this in the five seconds I turned my back to get his sister a drink) and tip his cereal with milk over his head! He ended this by trying to take a running jump off the table (don’t worry I caught him rice krispies, milk and all)!
So are you going through toddler mayhem? How are you keeping your sanity? Let me know.
Help! My Toddler Needs Taming
The funny thing about being a parent for the second time around is that the reality of certain phases suddenly comes back to you with an alarming clarity. Last week my son turned two, and over night he’s changed from an easy going baby to a tantrum throwing, loud, noisy, shouty child and that’s on a good day!
Yesterday was so bad that he nearly made me commit hara-kiri in the school playground. First he managed to kick a hole in a fence (it was about to be pulled down thankfully), then he pushed over a younger child, poured juice all over the ground and rolled in it and finally had an almighty tantrum (LOUD/SCREAMY/TEARS THE LOT) as I wrestled him back into the pushchair.
“You need to be firmer with him,” said one granny who was smart enough to notice my face and move away quickly. I did also notice the various looks of other parents which ranged from sympathy to pity and even irritation (my all time favourite). Having been through this all before I also know the rote – ignore all looks, stay calm, distract said child, warn said child, use the naughty step, and finally in my case do lots and lots of mummy yelling!
My bible last time around was Toddler Taming by Dr Christopher Green. A fantastic book that reminds me constantly that “toddlers are not adults and have limited sense, limited and attention spans and the big one – toddlers don’t think like we do“.
This thinking helped a lot this morning when my son decided it would be a great idea to climb onto the table (he did this in the five seconds I turned my back to get his sister a drink) and tip his cereal with milk over his head! He ended this by trying to take a running jump off the table (don’t worry I caught him rice krispies, milk and all)!
So are you going through toddler mayhem? How are you keeping your sanity? Let me know.
Yesterday was so bad that he nearly made me commit hara-kiri in the school playground. First he managed to kick a hole in a fence (it was about to be pulled down thankfully), then he pushed over a younger child, poured juice all over the ground and rolled in it and finally had an almighty tantrum (LOUD/SCREAMY/TEARS THE LOT) as I wrestled him back into the pushchair.
“You need to be firmer with him,” said one granny who was smart enough to notice my face and move away quickly. I did also notice the various looks of other parents which ranged from sympathy to pity and even irritation (my all time favourite). Having been through this all before I also know the rote – ignore all looks, stay calm, distract said child, warn said child, use the naughty step, and finally in my case do lots and lots of mummy yelling!
My bible last time around was Toddler Taming by Dr Christopher Green. A fantastic book that reminds me constantly that “toddlers are not adults and have limited sense, limited and attention spans and the big one – toddlers don’t think like we do“.
This thinking helped a lot this morning when my son decided it would be a great idea to climb onto the table (he did this in the five seconds I turned my back to get his sister a drink) and tip his cereal with milk over his head! He ended this by trying to take a running jump off the table (don’t worry I caught him rice krispies, milk and all)!
So are you going through toddler mayhem? How are you keeping your sanity? Let me know.