Home Family Art Homemade Frugal Living Travel

Saturday, February 05, 2011

I guess we opened our 2 year olds pandora box!

By taking away the morning bottle in an effort to get her to EAT food she's become extremely unpredictable.

This morning -

She ate one bite of one scrambled egg and announced she was done. I knew things would be bad from there. An hour later as I sat with Sam while finishing my breakfast she walks over and bonks him on the forehead with a tiny kid sized pink gardening bucket! Immediate timeout in the corner until she apologizes, then I show her Sam's head and tell her she gave him a boo boo. She's sorry and gives him a hug.

About a half hour later she finally agrees to eat some banana bread and a tiny sip of milk.

I finally get Sam down for a nap and talk her into going outside for a walk but she refuses shoes. The rule is no shoes, no outside. So I take the dog out to do his business and she runs past me without shoes. Sigh! I follow her down the path and her wildness takes her around the entire lake - barefoot - 1/3 of a mile! I let her run ahead. Somehow the dog runs after us, realizing a walk is being had but for some glorious reason he's not on a leash meaning he has total freedom to sniff everything along the way. I oscillate between dog and child - out of control yet everyone within barking distance of my voice.

We get back and Sam's still sleeping - my nerves are frayed from being out of distance of his voice while letting his wild sister run through her wild energy swing.

We return to play on the porch with sidewalk chalk and that keeps her satisfied for a half hour but when I bring Sam out after he wakes up she feels the urgent need to get my attention and begins to chalk up the chair, breaks a piece deliberately then runs inside to work on the furniture so I confiscate all chalk to screams and howls. I promise to give it back if she behaves and she does.

My mom calls while I balance Sam in one arm and we talk for awhile, Charlotte playing nicely with her chalk.

We eventually make our way back inside so I can feed Sam and make lunch. She howls bloody murder when I change her clothes and diaper. I'm not sure anything pleases her these days!

Finally get lunch ready, Charlotte eats a few bites and announces she's done. I can't imagine how she gets full! I go to feed Sam and she stands all over his high chair trying to watch and participate. I agree to a point but no touching his face.

Finally it's time for her nap, I take her in the bedroom, replace all the clothing she's somehow removed in the last hour, turn fan on, close blinds and sit down to rock her to sleep. She leans over and spits on my arm. Disgusting - she knows we hate that. We've been counseling her on spitting for the past week. So I put her in bed and immediately leave.

I'm sure these are the moments I might even miss while in Asia but it's also going to be nice to take a little break. I'm not sure her grandmother will get the brunt of these behavior issues since I think she will be too distracted with other family in Texas. I hope she's better for Mema anyway!!!

2 comments:

texas mema said...

I think Charlotte will be just fine for Mema! We will have our run-ins I am sure but that is normal! Maybe we will be able to keep her focused on other things enough that she won't have time to try much!!!! hahahahaha!!! Gonna love her & Sam no matter what anyway!!!!

crazywildberry said...

Rachel, all kids need structure. They need boundaries. And you are providing some for her concerning meal times. Even though she is tying to test them, the boundaries are really good for her. Just keep up the good work and remain patient with her. She will appreciate the boundaries in the long run.

Also, a lot to the behaviors that you describe are typical two-year old behaviors. The acting-out, the crying, the asserting the independence. They have some words but can't fully portray their thoughts and feelings. I know that would be frustrating for me too! You are doing a fine job. Keep it up!