The terrible twos!!

The terrible twos is only called the terrible twos because fucking nightmare twos doesn't rhyme!!
Kovu is most definitely going through this tantrum phase (has been for a while now!) and everything is responded to with an adamant NO, a growl or spitting is the new favourite atm! Unless the question is do you want some choc/a biscuit/a cake etc, and then the response is a very cute "uh huh" nod of the head and smile! As a nursery nurse I have worked with children from 6 weeks old to 9 years old and the 2-3 year olds have never been my favourite age to work with because of the fact that they have these little tantrums caused mostly by frustration of knowing exactly what they want but not always being able to express it, or if they can express it they then can't always get what they want exactly when they want it and they haven't quite learnt the art of patience yet and are just beginning to understand the concept of sharing and waiting their turn! This is actually happening right now cos Kovu wants my phone but I've said no. So he's saying take turns take turns and I'm explaining that it's mummy's turn now and Kovus turn in a few minutes! It's not going down well!!
So as a nursery nurse I know all the different approaches to manage Kovus behaviour and have tried the majority, if not all, of them in the last few months. I read something recently that said terrible twos can be avoided if the children are taken outside and given chance to run around etc. I do this regularly (having 2 boys and a dog, I have no choice!) and I can honestly say the person who wrote that clearly didn't have kids!! Or certainly not my Kovu!! Taking him out does calm him down while we're walking away from the house but when we're on our way home the temper flares up again. I give him a 5 minute and a 2 minute warning, I've tried walking different routes, distracting him on the way back with cats/sticks/leaves/lamp posts/whatever I can think of, and he still stresses out at me! Because he is frustrated that we are not doing what he wants to do! I understand the tantrums! I get the behaviours and the reasoning behind them all in a two year olds head and in a childcare setting I can quite happily deal with them effectively but at home with my own baby it is not that simple! The emotions get in the way. My own frustrations of knowing I could be doing something else with my time rather than repeating the same phrases (don't spit that's very rude, we do not hit anyone let alone your brother/the dog/mummy, this behaviour is not acceptable, wait your turn, share with Romeo/Lola, sit in time out and calm yourself down and then I will talk to you! etc etc!) over and over again! And then I look at his little face and remember that is exactly what I should be doing with my time, helping my baby grow into a respectful, loving, caring, kind little boy, rather than the pain in the bum he is at the moment!! And I love him for it!!

Toilet Training

As many of you know I am currently toilet training Kovu, good age for it at 2 years 5 months, his speech is really coming along now and I thought it would be a good time to start. So I've been confined to my house for the last 4 days (so far) and we have had many wee wees on the floor, one wee on the toilet, one poo in his night time nappy and one other poo on the stairs trying to get up to the toilet (bless him!!) but now Romeo has a bad throat and sniffly nose and has had diarrhoea the last 2 days (covered me at 8pm last night, nice little bedtime surprise!) because I think he's got a tooth cutting through! So now my very easy 7 month old is clingy and tearful and refusing to eat anything that isn't puréed (even though he's on mashed food!)
So Thursdays are my asda delivery day and today I thought I'd better steam clean the playroom so Kovu could play again in a sterilised area, rather than a wee wee soaked area (clearly I've been clearing up the wee wees with dettol spray but nothing beats a good all over steam clean!)
I think I've got time before the asda delivery arrives to clear the playroom of all the foam mats, toy boxes, books, toys etc etc so I move everything to the living room, which now looks as though a toy bomb blew up in here!!
I manage to steam 1/2 the floor while Romeo screams for me to pick him up and Kovu just generally getting under my feet like a 2 year old boy, and then there's the knock at the door, 23 minutes before schedule! Wonderful if I wasn't just a little bit busy with the house in a little bit of a state! But I was a little bit busy and the house was a little bit of a state ( I don't care what the delivery guy thought, I just had very little space in which to put the bags!) but I managed it, while Romeo continued to scream for me and Kovu stood at the door with his little winky hanging out from under his top!! (If I'd have had that extra 23 minutes I'd have covered him up!! Lol!)
During all of this Kovu keeps stopping occasionally and holding his willy, so I ask of he needs the toilet each time, to which he replies with complete certainty "no" and then a little dribble will drop out and he looks at me like uhoh! So I rush him up to the toilet and then it seems he no longer needs a wee wee. No worries, lots of praise for trying, jump off the toilet, wash hands, and back downstairs (again Romeo is screaming the whole time because I've left the room!) this is happening very regularly and I'm slowly feeling my patience ebbing away, not with an individual child but just the situation.  Add to that the fact that I'm on a diet to get in shape before GG's wedding so my love for food vs my want for a slimmer body battle is well underway, the fact that I didn't sleep well last night because Romeos nose was blocked so he was struggling to breathe and ended up in the bed with me, covered in a baby vapour rub and olbas oil, and the fact that I cannot shut off my many thoughts and worries about life in general and it's probably safe to say I am stressing out today!!
BUT being a mum is still the best thing I ever did!