I wasn’t ready for it, I’m not going to lie.
The attitude. The firm shakes of the head and the cry of “no!”
The folded arms. The tantrums.
The deep scowls and body flops to the floor.
She’s not even two.
Yet these are the reactions I have had as I stare in horror at the Terrible Twos rushing at us like an out of control train. I am being pulled into these years that some moms cutely call “ the testing years”, kicking and screaming.
Seriously, what is with her hitting the stubborn stage before she’s even 2? All the books say two is when it all goes to hell in a hand basket. She is not two so she is not allowed to refuse to let me help her wash her hands and do it herself.
She is not allowed to try to jump into the deep end of the pool without adult supervision because she lacks fear. She is not allowed to sit in the floor and cry because mommy put on her shoes and she wanted to do it on her own.
She is not allowed to squish her face up in indignant annoyance when I try to hold a cup for her to drink from or slap my hand away in apparent insistence that she be allowed to do it ON HER OWN!
It’s not fair!
I was supposed to have more time to prepare!
But, she’s been developmentally early in so many other areas, I should have expected this.
I really should have been preparing for the worst.
The worst being that my little princess really is a smaller version of me.
Oh, Lord, give me strength, she has my independent attitude, my stubborn streak and, I can barely manage to write this, my temper.
This is it.
This is the payback I was warned about.
And yes, the saying is true. The saying I won’t repeat because I am a good Christian mama blogger. The saying that essentially says, “you are feeling the pain you caused so many others. Enjoy the ride, sucker.”
