Hello everyone! It feels like ages since I’ve written a post for RMF. Elle will be two and a half in just a few short weeks!!! I know. Where has the time gone? We’re now well and truly into the terrible twos. We’ve reached a point with Elle where she can’t be distracted, reasoned with or even bribed (!) It’s not a good place. If she doesn’t want to do something – then hell will freeze over before she does it. We have daily stand offs over things like holding my hand next to a main road and not having cake for breakfast. On the whole I try to be quite liberal with her and I most definitely pick my battles, but what on earth do you do when HAVE to win the battle? When you’re trying to get them to nursery so you can work? When you’re just trying to keep them safe???

I find myself wrestling with her – both mentally and physically – on a daily basis now. First comes the reverse psychology, then the threats, then the bribes. When that fails, it’s manhandling her into her buggy so she can’t run into the road, doing some kind of crazy bendy yoga moves while attempting to get her dressed in ONE place, scooping her up into the bath at nighttime…sometimes I feel like I spend a lot of my day making her do things she doesn’t want to do.

First of all – please tell me this isn’t just me? I really do try to be patient with Elle’s demands and refusals, and on non-childcare days it’s easier to go at her pace, let her make her own decisions and yes, sometimes she even has cake for breakfast πŸ˜‰ but it’s not always an option to be that relaxed.

Is that perhaps where I’m going wrong? There is a lack of consistency when it comes to my own behaviour?! Or am I actually not going wrong at all? Is this just part and parcel of having a toddler? Some days are great and other days leave you feeling like the worlds worst parent?

Given that Matt and I are both particularly head strong, I think I knew this was always going to be a part of her character. But she is BEYOND wilful, a tiny little force to be reckoned with. Hard to believe given that angelic ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ face.

So how do you overcome the wilfulness? How do you avoid the mental and sometimes physical wrestle?! I’d love to hear. Oh and for the record, I don’t want to change her stubborn streak, just make sure it’s directed into the right places…

Image by the amazing Liberty Pearl Photography