Welcome to the Terrible Two's - For Real

Look at that angelic face. Oh so deceiving! I feel like I might spontaneously turn into a gelatinous mass and ooze through the wicker weave of my chair as I sit here. It's scorching hot outside, moods are scorching hot inside and I'm contemplating why I am exhausted. But then I hear the sound of a plastic car falling to the floor, immediate crying and then the sound of more cars being flung in anger and hitting other household items. The terrible two's have finally struck my home with a vengeance. I have a third little Chernobyl reactor in this home and I suppose I'm wondering if I'll survive the fallout. People do - somehow. How do people with multiple kids under the age of five do it? My head might explode if I sincerely try to figure that one out.

My parents came by last night for a fourth of July hamburger and chips and dip dinner (and please notice this gorgeous lemon meringue pie I made from scratch) and it was the first time they had been around my little guy since becoming a tantruming two-year-old. My mom mentioned that she read that the name "terrible two's" came from the fact that at this age, their little brains are growing and changing so fast that they struggle to process everything coming their way so they simple freak out. Ironically, this is similarly what happens in 'explosive kids' (The Explosive Child. Read it). Although their issue stems more from underdeveloped lobes and mis-fires in the brain (which can be worked through over time). So, I've got an emotional teenager, explosive child, and tantruming two-yeard-old. Regardless of all the facts about brains, the unregulated and passionate emotional flare-ups happening around here might transform me into something slightly resembling Chet from Weird Science after Kelly LeBrock finishes with him.

This isn't why I have been MIA however. Summer overall has taken a toll with all my reactors running around the house and preparing for a trip to Texas. I took Curly (as we often refer to the two-year-old when he gets angry and does a dance similar to Curly from the Three Stooges) on a flight to Texas (on my own) and that is when the diaper really hit the fan. Aside from quick reactions, he is also very strong-willed and independent (people nicely refer to him as 'active' but that is such a tiny piece to this whole equation); he prefers to not be by my side and to make this happen as quickly as possibly. This is why I now have him on a leash everywhere I go (including the airport). He was laying on the floor in the security line and threw himself into a heap on the ground when he didn't get to board the airplane first, meanwhile my luggage is falling all over the place obscuring walkways and I'm dropping boarding passes and sweating profusely. Totally awesome.

Once we got to Texas his schedule was shot to hell. We spent most of our time outside in sweltering humid heat, he continued to meltdown all over the place and for the majority of the time, over nothing - my husband and I couldn't figure out what the devil he was so upset about (he totally lost it for a good twenty minutes just as we walked in the gates of SeaWorld). It was helpful that we didn't have an agenda and we just sat down with him and let him scream while people either smiled sympathetically at us or gave us a dirty look. Either way, whatever. I know we aren't the first people to deal with this and we won't be the last. My goal is to develop a sense of humor about it. My other goal is to continue to employ my mantra of maintaining control of myself when I feel about ready myself to meltdown. Speaking of which, I had to laugh when I took this picture because Curly at first was at the edge of the couch just watching Preston, like a tiger in the grass and then got down onto all fours, sneaking along and waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Sigh. The trickiest part amidst all these reactors is keeping my own reactor cool. While perusing the web I came across a gal who blogged about her year-long temper sabbatical (something about an orange rhino). She noted that the biggest change was not in her but in her kids and the changes she saw in her own children's behavior and reactions to life's situations; it was inspiring. While taking this challenge on for myself would obviously not be original, it could prove to be an adventure of its own and I'm always up for a challenge. Just look at that cute little bugger. That picture was taken right before he spilled my water all over the table. Go figure. :)