No hitting. No biting. No kicking. No scratching. No pinching. No throwing.
Seriously, are these hard rules to follow? I dont think so but Grace does. For a 2 year old to be asked to follow these rules, its impossible. Or at least thats my experience.
Over the past few months, we have been struggling with each of those. It started with hitting and progressed (in order) through the "no XXXX" above. Yesterday, I was pulled aside AGAIN at day care to discuss behavior. Grace is throwing toys at her friends. Yesterday it was a Barbie doll. The day before was a plastic cup.
I feel like we have tried everything........Naughty Step, taking away the toy she threw, early bedtime, distraction, talking to her. Now day care wants to almost ignore it. We think she is behaving this way for attention. If we dont give her the attention she apparently wants, then she should stop. Right? Please!
One side of me thinks I should listen to day care---she has been watching kids for 17 years so she must know what she is talking about. The other side of me is really concerned about Grace. Why is she so angry? She's an only child at home but at day care, she has always been surrounded with other kids so why is she acting out now? Not to mention the part of me that is totally embarassed every day at pickup time. What report am I going to get today? Are all these parents looking at me thinking "that's the bad kids mom"? What am I doing wrong that Grace is the only one misbehaving constantly?
I dont know what to do anymore. I talked to her doctor the other day and mentioned it all. He said "She's 2". Yeah, well, this 2 year old is already the class bully and Mama doesnt like it!
Any ideas!?!? I am at a loss. WHy is this toddler parenting so hard?!!?!??!?!!?! Does it ever get easier!?!?!?!?!?!?
And yes, Blog-o-sphere, I realize that I have posted about this a million times. Deal with it---I am frustarated and so I am writing about it.
2 comments:
I have had six two year olds and this last one is throwing me for a loop. No advice, except lots of consistancy and deep breathing.
I have three kids. The middle one either has horns or a halo. From the minute she popped out, she was just pissed off. I hate to break it to you, but three is even worse. But now we're at 4 1/2 and we are getting the kinds of behavior that the first kid got at 2. It does happen, but you have to be consistent.
Personally, having both types of kids, if I had one of the kids who was being slugged by my middle one at play group, I'd be really upset and would want to keep my kid away from the slugger. That's why we didn't "ignore" her behavior--it wasn't fair to her older sister and I wouldn't let the other kids at playgroup be invalidated that they had been hurt. She had to have time out after time out after time out after time out, and explained each time that if she wasn't going to be a good friend, the other children wouldn't want to play with her. Now that we're at 4 1/2 years old and we weathere that storm, I feel so much better. I can now trust her to be three feet away at play group without hearing that familiar shriek.
On the other hand, I know this child will never go along with the crowd. She'll tell people trying to lead her astray to pound sand. These are strong-willed children, not angry.
It will get better, I promise!
Post a Comment