Terrible Two's.

Is there really such a thing? You bet your sweet a** there is. The Oldest did not go through it. And it didn't dawn on me, not at all, not one iota, that the Littlest was going through it now until my husband said to the Oldest, "It's called the Terrible Two's" Lightbulb. Ya think? Yah. I think.

When your child says or does these things, you know he's going through the icky, horrible, ill fated, Terrible Two's:

• I don't WANT to listen! (screaming at you)
• No! No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (to everything you ask him/her to do)
• I don't WANT to sit in Time Out. I don't WANT to be safe! (after he nose dived off a kitchen chair for fun)
• I WANT TO BE BAD, go away! (after you have a simplified on two year old level quick talk about being safe and listening he responds as such)
• I don't WANT to take a nap! I play! (over and over and over from his room as he's kicking the walls of his bedroom)

Yes people who have two year olds, take cover now. Well, maybe that is an overstatement, as I said, our first son never went through it. We kept waiting. Never came. Sure, he was very "willful" as I used to call it. Sure, he was a stinker. Still is. But not to this extent. Nowhere close. I lately have been feeling huge guilt about how I used to think the Oldest was so hard and man, looking back, he was actually pretty good. Maybe that's how time warps your memory; maybe it's easier to remember it all that way. Tonight at dinner the Littlest had no interest in spaghetti. He wanted to set up the chairs we were all sitting on as a train (he often does this). Sure son, how 'bout AFTER we eat though? Kay. Buh bye. Uh uh. Nope, he kept on and kept on and finally I went to the dining room and got a chair from there, lined it up with his from dinner and there you go, two chairs. Not good enough. He kept coming up to my chair wanting it. Finally he just stood there, after I was being calm as a cucumber saying, 'Please wait Littlest, I'm almost done', he just stood there, at my back, behind the chair and grabbed the back of the chair and said, "Mamma you're too big!" then pause...."I need the chair!" Quiet in the house.

Ok, so six more months, right? And I'll love every one of them with all I have. ;)