two year olds are *hard*
Jan. 17th, 2006 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fleaYesterday I was at work and mr. flea was home with Casper and he had a terrible day of it. They came over to visit me for lunch and she was sort of a mild pill, and then she started crying as we said goodbye and continuted to cry though their 5 minute wait for the bus, the 15 minute bus ride, and half of the 10 minute walk home. Later she cried herself to sleep in the middle of the living room floor (after refusing to nap).
In good news, mr. flea made us some lovely beef stew, and I have leftovers for lunch, and added peas, since everything is better with peas.
Right now it seems that the only thing that makes Casper happy is to watch a video or TV, and we're trying not to rely on that too heavily. She woke up crying and mad at us at 6am today and wanted to watch a video. We said no and endured a 20 minute lying on the floor and crying "I want to watch a video" session before she sniffed a bit and I persuaded her to come into bed and "nurse" for a while. Still fragile for the rest of the time I was home, although she took my departure better than I had expected (i.e. minor crying and not a full meltdown).
I know all of this is developmentally normal: the neediness, the clinging, the assertion of independence, the testing of rules, the orneriness. I know what I am supposed to do, which is be firm but kind, set rules that are inviolable and set guidelines that can be negotiated so she feels she has some power, and always be there being patient, because although she's screaming, "Go away!" she feels abandoned if you actually do.
What I would *like* to do is generally one of the following, depending on the situation: smack her on the ass, put my head down and howl in frustration, or plug her in to the TV and escape to the nearest bar to drink many gin and tonics.
Please, phase, pass quickly.
In good news, mr. flea made us some lovely beef stew, and I have leftovers for lunch, and added peas, since everything is better with peas.
Right now it seems that the only thing that makes Casper happy is to watch a video or TV, and we're trying not to rely on that too heavily. She woke up crying and mad at us at 6am today and wanted to watch a video. We said no and endured a 20 minute lying on the floor and crying "I want to watch a video" session before she sniffed a bit and I persuaded her to come into bed and "nurse" for a while. Still fragile for the rest of the time I was home, although she took my departure better than I had expected (i.e. minor crying and not a full meltdown).
I know all of this is developmentally normal: the neediness, the clinging, the assertion of independence, the testing of rules, the orneriness. I know what I am supposed to do, which is be firm but kind, set rules that are inviolable and set guidelines that can be negotiated so she feels she has some power, and always be there being patient, because although she's screaming, "Go away!" she feels abandoned if you actually do.
What I would *like* to do is generally one of the following, depending on the situation: smack her on the ass, put my head down and howl in frustration, or plug her in to the TV and escape to the nearest bar to drink many gin and tonics.
Please, phase, pass quickly.