21 January 2015

Is this the start of the Terrible Twos?


Since turning two last December, Riley has been rather emotional about every little thing. For instance, in the photo above, we were waiting for our turn to ride the train in Sky Ranch Tagaytay. Every time the train comes back and we were not on it, he would pout and pitifully say, "I want to ride the train." We have been patient with him by explaining that we have to wait for our turn. And 90% of the time, he will listen and wait while amusing himself. I find it very funny that he will either dance on the spot or talk the people around him.

He has also started the "gimme" stage. He wants everything that attracts his attention. Even the ones he has no use for! We passed by a small dvd store on the way home and he was attracted to the colorful covers of the displayed dvds. He suddenly shouted, "I want that! Many!" When I asked him what will he do with a lot of dvds, he just said. "I don't know." Before he can start a tantrum, I diverted his attention to other things in our path like the birds or cars passing by. 

The worst case of Terrible Twos that we had was when we were in SnR and he saw this huge fluffy stuffed toy. In the first place, he was never a fan of stuffed toys. And this particular stuffed toy was a colorful fluffy cute monster. He would not let it go and kept hugging it. Whenever we tried to put it back he would howl and jump up and down. Panic mode on! My husband and I waited for him to finish his tantrum (and me to calm down!) and when he was semi-quiet, we explained to him that we will purchase and take home that toy BUT we have to give away every single one of his toys at home because he simply had too many toys. I enumerated out loud all his favorite toys and told him that I will give all those toys to every kid I see. He was silent for a moment (thinking it over, maybe) and told us to put back the toy so we can go home. Alleluiah! 

I noticed though that we had to be consistent on telling him this as he constantly tries to throw another "gimme" tantrum whenever there is this attractive toy in the mall. We always tell him the same thing in a firm but gentle tone. And I simply cannot leave him at home every time I want to go shopping. I find it best to expose him and call him out on the not-so-nice behavior before it gets out of hand.

If this is the start of the Terrible Twos, I need to start being more patient as I would hate myself if I loose my temper and spank him.