First of all, I can't believe we're already approaching my child's second Christmas - this means he'll be two in February, folks. Two. Wow.
Hmm...where to start. Parenting an almost 2-year old toddler is so different from a 1-year old or even an 18-month old. I'm definitely in new territory. He throws fits now - like, real ones. I used to think he threw fits, but I was sorely mistaken. Here are two examples of recent fits.
We were in Target yesterday and he spied a big red circle advertisement on the floor that said something like "5% off TODAY and EVERYDAY" and he loved standing on it pointing out the Os, Ys, Ds, etc. He was having a really great time, but this big advertisement was in the middle of the aisle. And he was standing right on top of it. So, I obviously couldn't let him stand there for long, and besides, it was time to go home. I told him that he could play for one more minute and then we would need to leave. Negotiating never really works, and he has no concept of time, but sometimes preparing him seems to help a little. When his minute was up I told him it was time to go, and took his hand so that we could walk out of the store. That didn't work, so I finally had to pick him up. He started screaming, threw his head back and then proceeded to attempt to hit me in the face. This is a new thing with him - when he doesn't get what he wants he goes for my face. I firmly grasped his hands, told him "no hitting, that's not nice" and then he cried harder. I finally got him distracted enough that he calmed down, but I felt like every eye in the place was on us. David (who wasn't there, mind you) assures me that "probably no one was even paying attention to you" - but I see it differently.
A couple days before the Target incident Xander and I had gone to the post office to mail a couple of packages. When we got there, I needed to get my boxes and put the gifts inside, so I set him up on a counter that was specifically for these purposes. When it was time for me to get in line, Xander didn't want to get off the counter. There wasn't anyone in line at this time (a rarity during this time of year) so I knew I didn't have time to waste. I grabbed Xander and started to walk up to the counter when he pitched another one of his "little" fits. I set him on the ground where he proceeded to lay on the floor and kick his feet. I know you're picturing it in your head right now and I'm sure it was as bad as you're thinking. I continued up to the counter and the woman looked at me and said, "Is he going to be alright?" To which I replied, "Oh, he's fine." She weighed my packages and Xander finished up his screaming only because he had lost sight of me and wanted to make sure I was watching his fit. Once he found me, he came over and I picked him up to sit on the counter while we waited. He wanted to push the buttons on the key pad, and the lady behind the counter told him no. Anyone who knows Xander is aware of how sensitive he is. He may try to hit me in the face when I make him do something he doesn't want to do, but when I tell him no, he sticks his little bottom, lip out and cries. Hard. So that's what he did. And that was the end of the post office trip.
Whew. This parenting stuff is exhausting!
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