2 Year Old Defintely Acting like a 2 Year Old!!!!! HELP :P

i have a 2 year old and a 1 year old so i can relate. i find if i don't give my 2yr old enough one on one time he goes on one of his tantrums. so i try to give him randomly 10-15 min one on one time, even if it means just a hug and a kiss he seems to do better. as for cleaning up i make it a game and i help and we see who can put the most toys away and we sing a song doing it usually his favorite song. As for morning drop off i used to have that problem too i stared the day when i wake him up or he gets up i would let him know what the day has in store for him and talk it though so he understands then when i drop him off at the sitters i talked him though it and gave him a kiss and hug and tell him what time ill be back and remind him of what we are going to do when i pick him up and tell him bye. he no longer throws tantrums when i drop him off. i am 27 yrs old and a single mom going through a divorce so i know it not easy.

I had the same problem with both of my children with picking up stuff. I found making-up a game to get them to pick up toys that they don't want to pick up really helps.

I can't help with the other issue as I am having the same problem with at times.

Good luck with both issues.

Hi J.
As a mother of 3 I have learned that they love to help and be mommies helpers so what I do with my 2yr old is make it a game or ask do you want to help mommy? If he gets excited about that then go with it! Can you help mom pick up the toys? then when he does give him a big hug and say thank you I couldn't of done it with out you! He will feel good about helping you having you recognize it with a big hug he will want to do more you will notice every little thing he does will be look mommy or I'll help!! That is a good thing! The reason 2yr olds act the way they do is when we want them to do something they don't want or are not ready for and they don't know how to express them selves. Everyone want to be helpful if you master it now 3's will be a breeze I had no problems with my now 8 yr old and I am using the same technique with my 2yr old.

As far as seperation GOOD LUCK I am a stay at home mom for that reason if you think everything is good at the sitters it could be anxiety. In my case it was because the sitter was verbal and physical with my children. You have to listen to your heart if you feel comfortable they are probably fine but if you feel funny something is wrong. A mother knows

I had this same problem about the toys, so then I made a game of it. Make a little area you can pretend is the garage and have him drive them into the garage. Maybe that will help. And as far as the sitter is concerned, I actually had to switch my hours so that I could be home with the girls since my daughter was freaking out if we even turned off of our street going in the general direction of the sitter. it turned out I had a bad sitter in the beginning, but now I am home when my husband works and vice versa. I can't help much with the separation thing, but maybe the toy thing will help you.

Hi J.,

The separation anxiety is normal. I have four children and 3 of them have been to siters in the past. He is at about the age where he wants to be independent but still wants you to be there. He is just realizing he can't control your every second and tries to guilt you. Moms do it to. It will pass.
As far as the trucks and animals, maybe he is associating them with the real thing. Try telling him to park his trucks next to the toy box. Its there driveway. The animals have to go home for naps. It seems kind of silly but my oldest used to tell me her animals were real so the didn't belong in the toy box. We made them a bed and that worked. Definitly be happy that he does pick up that wont last. Good luck.

Hi,
I understand your pain with the tranturms, my son who will be 2 in 2 weeks does the same thing. I have learned to get him excited and explain in depth what I would like him to do. He has a toy bend and I give him a ben and tell him to put them all in the blue one, and when he does I show lots a praise! He gets them job done and feels good about himself when he is finished. About the crying thing...I'm not sure because I stay at home. At church we had some issues, where he cried when going into nursery, but he is used to it now so it is't bad. Maybe let him know you will be back after nap, or something that he does at the sitters so he knows...okay after nap, mommy will be here soon!??
Best of Luck!!!
S.

Hi J.,

Read Love and Logic. It is an amazing book and will help now through adulthood with your children. I recommend it to everyone and used it when I taught and now I use it with my only children.

Good Luck

Crying when mom leaves is normal. It's just a phase that will pass(I have twins-it does get better. Just keep the morning routine the same and assure him you will pick him up after work). Also-my girls did not want to pick up toys either. We started putting each toy they would not pick up in time out for a day. This works after a few days-hopefully he'll pick them up himself.

Hi J.,
My daughter does the same thing! When she gives me a hard time about putitng toys away the only way i can modivate her is to say lets see who can put them away the fastest..kids at this age are always rechallenging us and if your child is even remotely competitive, like mine, then this may work ;-)
The SA is very common at this age and i have gone through the exact same thing, of course she only did it for me and not my husband. We had recently switched her to a child care center(for unrelated reasons)and the seperation anxiety has stopped.It may be an indiction there is something he is not liking at the sitters. Go with your gut.

Well, he certainly seems to be acting like a 2 YO.. If he's having such a hard time w/ a certain type of toy, it sounds like something my Felicity is going through. I couldn't think of a thing about this but my 12 YO son ran down in the garage, brought up a rubbermaid container and told her this was her special place for her ponies and littlest petshop thingys... This worked about a week ago and has worked every day since then. I swear I don't know if I'd still be sane w/ out my oldest. He's Gods gift to every Mother. He takes the babies to play while I get dinner on, invents new learning games for them, teaches them how to play whatever sport he's playing at the time,,, OK that's enough... just had to brag,,, but the special box for ONLY those toys she cherishes worked for us.. Maybe for him as well... I cannot give advice on separation,, I've never hired a sitter or anything so I've no clue how I would tackle this..
Good luck and God bless,
A.