So THIS is what two-year-olds are like
Aislinn turned two last weekend. And oh. my. gosh. Is she ever TWO.
Audrey did not really go through the stereotypical "terrible twos" (a phrase I really don't like anyway). She has always been a high-maintenance drama queen (do I really even like THAT phrase? but it is SO appropriate!), but at least with her, I can more or less predict what will set her off. And since she was high-maintenance from the start, I knew from the start what I was getting myself into.
But Aislinn. She's supposed to be my easy one. She let me sleep longer, sooner. She did not require me to nurse her more frequently than every two to three hours from the very beginning, and quite quickly became an every-four-hour nurser. She did not go from sleep to screaming in two seconds flat.
Well...until a few weeks ago.
The words "NO!" and "MINE!" are so important to her that she even says them in her sleep. And when we hear her say these words in her sleep (usually together), we know that hysterical crying will immediately follow.
The other difference between Audrey and Aislinn was that Audrey was more compliant to our instructions. She didn't always like it, but she would pretty much do what we asked her to do WHEN we asked her to do it, at least at this age. Not so with Aislinn. When we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, her responses range from ignoring us completely, to rolling her eyes (yes, really, already), to throwing a screaming fit.
I know this is normal two-year-old behavior, but to be honest, I had convinced myself that our success with Audrey was due to our perfection as parents and our wonderful abilities at discipline (just joking! We know we're not perfect parents. But we did think we were pretty effective disciplinarians).
The other thing, which may or may not be related, is that she has just started, for the first time, to display separation anxiety. This again is normal in toddlers...but it usually STARTS at a much younger age, and I thought by now, she would be secure enough to not regress to it. But dropping her off at MOPS or at the church nursery puts her in a screaming fit as well (though she does always calm down after a few minutes...I always wait and make sure). And it's worse if she's being left by Leo, whether at church or even at home with me. Yes, this kid will happily wave bye-bye to Mama any time, but most mornings, it's major trauma when it's time for Leo to go out the door. Or, if she's coming with me and Daddy is staying behind...same story.
Makes me wonder if she has a better idea than we realize of what life will be like when the baby comes! She knows there's a baby in Mama's belly, but how could she know that SHE won't be the youngest, the "baby" anymore? Could she possibly be that perceptive?
Or she could be just teething. Those two-year molars can be horrible.
But I doubt it!
(Oh, and if this wasn't enough, I've just learned that some of the kids in Audrey's class are doing the boyfriend/girlfriend thing. ALREADY!!! They are just first-graders, for Pete's sake! Audrey reported that one boy ALMOST broke up with another girl so he could be her boyfriend. Although I can remember this happening when I was in first grade, and indeed had started to get crushes...I am not ready for this to happen as a mother. Thankfully...Audrey has expressed that she is not interested in having a boyfriend AT ALL and was quite relieved that at the last minute, the boy in question decided to remain with his current girlfriend. Thank goodness. The girl is one of Audrey's friends, and who knows what kind of first grade catfight would have broken out if things had been different?)
Audrey did not really go through the stereotypical "terrible twos" (a phrase I really don't like anyway). She has always been a high-maintenance drama queen (do I really even like THAT phrase? but it is SO appropriate!), but at least with her, I can more or less predict what will set her off. And since she was high-maintenance from the start, I knew from the start what I was getting myself into.
But Aislinn. She's supposed to be my easy one. She let me sleep longer, sooner. She did not require me to nurse her more frequently than every two to three hours from the very beginning, and quite quickly became an every-four-hour nurser. She did not go from sleep to screaming in two seconds flat.
Well...until a few weeks ago.
The words "NO!" and "MINE!" are so important to her that she even says them in her sleep. And when we hear her say these words in her sleep (usually together), we know that hysterical crying will immediately follow.
The other difference between Audrey and Aislinn was that Audrey was more compliant to our instructions. She didn't always like it, but she would pretty much do what we asked her to do WHEN we asked her to do it, at least at this age. Not so with Aislinn. When we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, her responses range from ignoring us completely, to rolling her eyes (yes, really, already), to throwing a screaming fit.
I know this is normal two-year-old behavior, but to be honest, I had convinced myself that our success with Audrey was due to our perfection as parents and our wonderful abilities at discipline (just joking! We know we're not perfect parents. But we did think we were pretty effective disciplinarians).
The other thing, which may or may not be related, is that she has just started, for the first time, to display separation anxiety. This again is normal in toddlers...but it usually STARTS at a much younger age, and I thought by now, she would be secure enough to not regress to it. But dropping her off at MOPS or at the church nursery puts her in a screaming fit as well (though she does always calm down after a few minutes...I always wait and make sure). And it's worse if she's being left by Leo, whether at church or even at home with me. Yes, this kid will happily wave bye-bye to Mama any time, but most mornings, it's major trauma when it's time for Leo to go out the door. Or, if she's coming with me and Daddy is staying behind...same story.
Makes me wonder if she has a better idea than we realize of what life will be like when the baby comes! She knows there's a baby in Mama's belly, but how could she know that SHE won't be the youngest, the "baby" anymore? Could she possibly be that perceptive?
Or she could be just teething. Those two-year molars can be horrible.
But I doubt it!
(Oh, and if this wasn't enough, I've just learned that some of the kids in Audrey's class are doing the boyfriend/girlfriend thing. ALREADY!!! They are just first-graders, for Pete's sake! Audrey reported that one boy ALMOST broke up with another girl so he could be her boyfriend. Although I can remember this happening when I was in first grade, and indeed had started to get crushes...I am not ready for this to happen as a mother. Thankfully...Audrey has expressed that she is not interested in having a boyfriend AT ALL and was quite relieved that at the last minute, the boy in question decided to remain with his current girlfriend. Thank goodness. The girl is one of Audrey's friends, and who knows what kind of first grade catfight would have broken out if things had been different?)
posted by Andrea | 10:36 AM
3 Comments:
I swear, if I didn't know better, I would think you were talking about teenagers.
;)
Aw, I was engaged in First Grade.
Our small town dentist had boxes of toy rings as a prize when we were good. The boy asked for the girl's ring box and chose one with the idea to give it to me. The dentist's office nurse called my mother to expect a visit. Small town 'secrets' can be so annoying.
I can remember standing in the corner of the playground and he asked me to marry him and I said "yes" and he put the ring on my finger.
It was like a movie, I tell ya.
He kissed me on the cheek, and we held hands for about 5 minutes.
When I was walking home from school, the ring broke. I tried to put tape on it, but that itched too much.
I showed it to my mom, and she said it was just too bad, but it could not be fixed.
When the boy came over after supper, I showed him the broken ring. He shrugged and said it was okay, his mom said he was too young to get married.
Next day, all was just fine.
I'll bet some other phone calls happened, but I think our moms being cool about it probably meant we were doing alright.
The guy went on to become a research scientist at a big appliance company. Has patents for the coating on wiring in a washing machine or something.
Maybe I should have held him a little tighter.
I didn't meet the man who is my husband until the college cafeteria.
I always love MrsDoF's stories. I agree that if parents dont make a big deal of it, it just kinda goes away.
Hunter is in 3rd grade and has a 'girlfriend', but he said no one will be Madison- his 1st grade girlfriend. I do believe he will remember her for the rest of his life.
I know you have moved, could you email me your new address? Thank you!
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