Oh hello Terrible Twos, I forgot you were due!

Take a look at this oh-so-cute smiley little boy and you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a little angel wouldn’t you, like butter wouldn’t melt! Hahahaha that’s the best joke ever!!!!! This little monkey is seriously testing my resolve at the moment, he turned two at the end of January and he is now full swing into the terrible twos. With Little Bean I seem to remember she totally missed the terrible twos but started to be a tinker around the age of three. Beanie Boy, to my recollection has mostly been a good boy with a few ‘frustrating phases’ thrown in for good measure. But Jelly Bean, well he’s a character alright. He has been a character right from birth, he’s definitely always had a sense of humour and he really knows how to work a crowd of women (although he’s pretty spectacular with men if the mood takes him).

On the whole he has always been a very smiley boy but he has a little vindictive streak about him now, especially where Beanie Boy is concerned. So much so, I’ve had to tell Beanie Boy it’s time he started to stick up for himself against his bully of a younger brother (and Jelly Bean doesn’t like that one bit).

Jelly Bean’s current repertoire consists of:

• A big sigh followed by the folding of his arms and putting his chin to his chest any time I say ‘no’.
• Throwing toys down the stairs any time one of his siblings asks him to leave their room.
• Stealing toys and laying on them so that nobody else can play with them (and then growling and attempting to bite anyone who dares to retrieve them).
• Generally growling at you and barking like a dog – because he can.
• Throwing full bowls of cereals (with milk) across the kitchen floor.
• Sticking his tongue out and/or blowing raspberries at anyone that takes his fancy when out and about.

I could go on but I think you get the picture. He did try throwing tantrums for a while but I would just step over him and ignore him until he stopped then I would distract him with a fun activity and all was well with the world again.

Thankfully the nice part of all this is that generally any of his ‘actions’ don’t generally last too long and he can be quite easily distracted. I try telling myself it’s all character building though I’m not sure if I mean for him or me?! He still gives loving kisses and cuddles and he HATES being ignored so will soon say sorry.

How do you handle your terrible twos?