The Daily Struggle

I can't believe I haven't written on this blog since June 24th! I've been quite busy with my kiddie party blog (which reminds me, I'm still working on another draft for that. Whew), and had been quite taken with the researching and putting things together. :) Oh, and not to mention my online jobs (a WAHMmy has to bring in some moolah too.).

And of course, in between, during, before, and after everything else, I'm also attending to my super active little girl.

Which brings me to the point of my daily dilemma: THE ONSET OF TODDLER TANTRUMS.

Before my little Keisha turned two, she was really very pleasant most of the times, and by most, almost 24 hours in a day. The only time she became a bit cranky then was when she's sleepy. As she approached her 24th month, I began seeing 'signs' of the inevitable 'terrible twos'. She pouted and wrinkled her brows a lot if we didn't give to her or let her do what she wants. But still, she was pretty much tolerable.

And then BOOM! She turned two. 

My pretty little princess who was usually pleasant, started to give me daily headaches. She no longer just pouts and wrinkles her brows when she can't do things her way, she now rolls on the floor crying, and throws stuff around. And when you tell her to stop, or try to console her, she'll cry even more and say 'No, no, nooooo!' in a very defiant manner. Either that or she'll say 'Ayaw ko dito!' (I don't like it here!)

If she's done rolling on the floor, she'll start looking for people (while still crying) who usually give her what she wants (like her Yaya Helen or her grandpa and grandma). Me and her dad, we're not the 'spoiler' type, so she'd rarely come looking for either of us when she's throwing a tantrum. 

This is her throwing a tantrum-out-of-nowhere:

Lying on the floor. Crying.

She's checking if somebody notices her.

Realizing that we are just going to let her cry it out, she stops. :)

I've gotten quite used to her throwing fits like this every single day. And I just use the ignore-the-tantrum technique, and it usually works. BUT, there are times that she gets really testy, and my patience just couldn't hold. 

There were times that I had to raise my voice at her (Oh I hate it when I have to do that.), just to show her that Mom is still in charge, not her. It hurts me to have to do that, but I don't want her growing up thinking that she can get away with throwing tantrums just to get what she wants. 

I know this stage isn't going to last forever, and I know there are even more challenging growing-up stages ahead. I dread the day when she becomes a teenager, and starts to act the way I did when I was a teen (*swallowing really hard now*). Mom wasn't really the most agreeable kid back then (self-confessed semi-rebel, that's me.). And they say little girls grow up to be like their mommies....

But, that's a long time from now. What I have to deal with at the moment is this little 26-month old tot whose daily display of stubborness and defiance has officially welcomed me to the terrible twos. Oh and yeah, finding a variety of ways to keep my 'mommy patience' in check is also at the top part of my to-do list.