Recently Chloe has been teaching me that children are little people who have emotions just like adults and this can mean that some days are great and other days are not-so-great, or they can be pretty awful! I find it interesting that my usually sweet, polite, smiley, little girl can wake up the next morning and behave in completely the opposite way! She demonstrated this at the weekend; when she first visited my grandparents on Friday (during their weekend stay at my parents) she was not in a good mood. This bad mood lasted until Sunday afternoon. I'd never seen anything like it! Chloe was having a tantrum about every little thing I wanted her to do - clean her teeth, put clothes on, go downstairs, get in the car, sit in the buggy etc. Also every little thing she wanted to do which she couldn't e.g. - go outside without shoes on or before she had sun cream put on. And she'd get herself so worked up, to the point of crying hysterically over something very trivial! I'm guessing this is the start of the 'terrible two's' - if you start them early do they finish early?!
However today Chloe woke up and she didn't immediately scream the place down but chatted happily to herself and gave me a big smile when I came in with her milk. She was really patient sitting in her buggy when we went into town with Mum and Dad and my grandparents and played happily with her Peppa Pig magazine whilst we had a coffee. When I put her down for her nap she gave me the biggest cuddle and started stroking my back, saying 'love you Mummy'. It was such a special moment! A big change from having to put her down for her nap early yesterday because she threw her lunch all over the floor!
I think as parents we have to allow our children to have bad days and not panic when they seem out of control or extremely selfish some of the time. Chloe may have had a tooth coming through or a headache or the heat may have got to her which caused her bad mood. Or maybe children are affected by their changing bodies or even hormones, I don't know? They have to learn so much and so quickly that sometimes their emotions can just errupt! I wonder if there is a difference between boys and girls in this?
I am really encouraged when people tell me their children have had 'bad days' and have thrown tantrums and been stroppy and difficult. I like to know I'm not alone and that Chloe's behaviour is completely normal (the book Toddler Taming is incredibly good at showing you that toddlers' behaviour can be very testing but completely normal!). Sometimes it seems that mums are very aware of creating a 'negative' impression of their children so they only tell you the good but never the bad, which sets an unrealistic standard for the rest of us. Parenting is hard work and I think it is really healthy to share the bad with the good.
I need to remember that: tomorrow is another day with (hopefully) another mood!
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