Cubs is two...
Technically he has only been two for the last 4 months. But he has been acting "TWO" for the last year...
The terrible two are exactly as they sound... TERRIBLE.
And although I have paid my dues for a year, technically I still have 8 more months until he is three, so that means 8 MORE MONTHS of the twos!
Recently we have reached a new stage of the twos.
The days of screaming hysterically at the drop of a hat for no reason at all have pretty much stopped. This is partially due to the fact that before he could not tell you what he wanted so he would just lose it. Now he knows what he wants and is able to ask for it. Of course when what he is asking for is to run around the house with a permanent ink pen or eat an entire plate of cookies and you answer "NO", it still elicits the same response but at least now you have a warning.
Still life with this little guy can sure be frustrating. I am amazed at how many times I say NO in the course of my day. And how I can tell him something 4,357,968,467 times and yet he acts like it is brand new information every time. Things like "don't dump an entire glass of juice on the floor" or "you only take ONE piece of sacrament bread". Which directly translates into a sticky child sitting on time out most everyday and me dragging a screaming child out of church with his mouth stuffed with half of the tray of bread every Sunday.
My mom had some words of wisdom for me, probably from dealing with those crazy brothers of mine. She said that you have to look at things the way he does, through the eyes of a two year old. For example to him the impressive wave caused by dumping a glass full of juice on the floor and the added bonus of then being able to splash in the contents would be pretty cool if you were two and not worried about cleaning up the mess but rather living in the moment. Or when you see that tray pass by overflowing with bread, one piece of bread would be good, but a whole handful would be better! In a way it does kind of make sense. And although they know full well that mom said NO sometimes curiosity just gets the better of them
The other day my mom and I were walking through Target. Squish was sleeping peacefully in the car seat perched in the front of the cart and Cubs was playing with our assorted purchases in the back. When we passed by two children who had successfully finagled their way out of their respective carts and had now taken to racing up and down the isle. Cubs observed them for a moment and then swung one leg over the edge of the cart and announced that he wanted to get out. I attempted to convince him of the benefits of being trapped in the cart by using flowery language such as FUN and WOW!
Then finally as distraction was clearly not working I asked the question "now why would you want to get out?" in the hopes that the answer would be "you know mom... I don't know. You make a lot of sense. Lets move on." It was a stupid question and the answer was simply "run." Because you see a two year old does not find great joy in shopping. Being stuck in a cart with nothing but a bottle of shampoo and some paper towel to play with while you mother compares prices of cleaning detergents is not actually very exciting. However, running up and down the isles narrowly dodging stacks of glass platters and nearly giving your mother a heart attack, sounds like good fun.
So I have decided to try and see things as my two year old does. Realize that he finds great joy and excitement in discovering things even though it makes my head hurt. And that I am now no longer able to go shopping with my children, I can go buying but not shopping. Meaning that when I enter the store I need to have a clear plan, get in grab a few things and get out quickly.
