School me on being a Dad

[nismodrifter]

Kids are very interesting. All winter long we kept on trying to get our 2 year old to wear his gloves/mittens. He refused. This was an issue for many outings unfortunately. We had to return home many times because his hands couldn't be out in the cold that long. Nor could he play in the snow etc for too long.
Yesterday I see him digging through his little basket of clothes, and in his hands are on his winter gloves, never worn of course. He was very interested in putting them on (weather outside was +16c). He calmly let me put them on for him and was amazed. Did not want to take them off.

[Misterman]

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Any advice on dealing with the terrible two's?

My son has become an asshole.

Toddlers are basically hard wired for power struggles. I just try to avoid giving him hard NO's on the things I can, and getting to that level with him. The strategy I read about that seems to work pretty well for us, is to give him a choice of things as much as possible. For example, if he doesn't want PJ's on, I don't argue with him and try to force him into them. I hold up two pairs and ask him to choose which one he wants. It's not fool proof, but it certainly saves a lot of headaches.

[Tik-Tok]

The illusion of choice has been a great method of control for centuries.

[vengie]

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Toddlers are basically hard wired for power struggles. I just try to avoid giving him hard NO's on the things I can, and getting to that level with him. The strategy I read about that seems to work pretty well for us, is to give him a choice of things as much as possible. For example, if he doesn't want PJ's on, I don't argue with him and try to force him into them. I hold up two pairs and ask him to choose which one he wants. It's not fool proof, but it certainly saves a lot of headaches.

Yeah we do this. Coupled with reverse psychology.

"I did not want either!!" Okay be naked, then he freaks out and will make a choice.

Exhausting

[Misterman]

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Yeah we do this. Coupled with reverse psychology.

"I did not want either!!" Okay be naked, then he freaks out and will make a choice.

Exhausting

Lol. Mine isn't that wild yet, he is still 3 months away from being 2. So I'm sure I have more joys of terrible twos coming my way.

But I've found it helpful to read a lot about this stuff. There's been a lot of parents before my time that have figured things out that can potentially work for me. Seems like a lot of parents tend to just assume this parenting thing is all intuitive and expect to get it right all on their own. I follow a few toddler parenting pages on Instagram, and they tend to have some helpful suggestions more times than not.

[vengie]

We also have a three week old newborn... So that's also a thing.

[bjstare]

We do the choice thing too, it works well.

Also, terrible twos is inaccurate. Was not terrible at all for us. Year 3 was way harder than year 2.

[jwslam]

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even though he's still trying to eat the dogs kibble

Serious question: Is there actually any harm in just allowing him to eat it?

[killramos]

There is the emotional/reputational harm of knowing your kid literally eats dog food…

[R-Audi]

2 wasnt bad for either of my boys, but came across someone calling them the 'fucking fours' which seemed to fit.

[ThePenIsMightier]

I used to eat some dog bones (much to the dismay of Drago) and I turned out fi...

*It's harmful...

[bjstare]

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Serious question: Is there actually any harm in just allowing him to eat it?

My boy has eaten a bit of dog food. He seems fine. Too bad he didn't like it more, would be a lot cheaper.

[schurchill39]

Another useful tip that is insanely effective for our kids is using a timer. We use one for everything from sharing a toy they both seem to want, to TV time, to playing before we have to leave anywhere. Anything that was previously a fight and you can associate a time frame too has been made so much easier. For example there is a park on the walk back from daycare, before if we stopped it was a nightmare getting them to leave when it was time to keep going home but as we walk up we tell them we are going to set a timer for 10 minutes and when it goes off its time to go. I have them press the "start" button on my phone so they have some involvement and off they go. The other day they were fighting over riding a scooter on the deck so we set 2 minute timers where each got a turn and repeated that until they were over it. Its been one of the most effective tools we've had.

[JfuckinC]

haha we're at the terrible 1.5's, everything is a battle right now... and i jinxed myself, last couple nights shes been waking up at 12 in like 10-15 minutes intervals and crying. im scared for june and kid 2

[vengie]

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haha we're at the terrible 1.5's, everything is a battle right now... and i jinxed myself, last couple nights shes been waking up at 12 in like 10-15 minutes intervals and crying. im scared for june and kid 2

Two is WAY easier than one!!!!



...... Said no dad ever.

Buckle up.

[DonJuan]

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Lol. Mine isn't that wild yet, he is still 3 months away from being 2. So I'm sure I have more joys of terrible twos coming my way.

But I've found it helpful to read a lot about this stuff. There's been a lot of parents before my time that have figured things out that can potentially work for me. Seems like a lot of parents tend to just assume this parenting thing is all intuitive and expect to get it right all on their own. I follow a few toddler parenting pages on Instagram, and they tend to have some helpful suggestions more times than not.

I got 6 months before mine turns 2 and I already get eye rolls and even some of straight up yell NO's.

[schurchill39]

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Two is WAY easier than one!!!!



...... Said no dad ever.

Buckle up.

I don't know why I thought my second kid would be like my first one. I had it in my mind that I would be on easy street because the first one was so easy. Boy was I wrong. They couldn't be any more different.

[Tik-Tok]

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Serious question: Is there actually any harm in just allowing him to eat it?

Have you seen how often dry kibble recalls happen? It's a lot.

[JfuckinC]

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I don't know why I thought my second kid would be like my first one. I had it in my mind that I would be on easy street because the first one was so easy. Boy was I wrong. They couldn't be any more different.

stoppppp, let me live this lie for two more months.

[arcticcat522]

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Another useful tip that is insanely effective for our kids is using a timer. We use one for everything from sharing a toy they both seem to want, to TV time, to playing before we have to leave anywhere. Anything that was previously a fight and you can associate a time frame too has been made so much easier. For example there is a park on the walk back from daycare, before if we stopped it was a nightmare getting them to leave when it was time to keep going home but as we walk up we tell them we are going to set a timer for 10 minutes and when it goes off its time to go. I have them press the "start" button on my phone so they have some involvement and off they go. The other day they were fighting over riding a scooter on the deck so we set 2 minute timers where each got a turn and repeated that until they were over it. Its been one of the most effective tools we've had.

This works for us too. Our 4 yr old is good if he has a time frame. Most of the time.