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Preview of the Terrible Twos?

Lily will be 17 months old on May 2. Our friends always comment on how sweet and quiet she is, and, truthfully, she is a very sweet little girl who rarely causes trouble. However, yesterday she really decided to flex her toddler muscles. The morning started out OK. She ate oatmeal with butter and some blueberries. We’ve found this is the best method of hiding her laxative. Simply cut the pill into tiny pieces and embed them in the berries. From that point forward, however, she was a little devil. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I take her to the library … Continue reading →

Misbehavior as a Way of Processing Stress and Anxiety

One of the biggest challenges of parenting is trying to figure out WHY our children are misbehaving—we look to things like whether or not they are getting enough rest, do they need attention, and what else is going on in their lives? As single parents, we might also consider whether our child is trying to process other stresses, anxiety, grief, etc. that may be manifesting into misbehaviors. When my children were younger, we would have “re-entry” days whenever they came back from weekends at their dad’s house. It was generally a moody, squabbling, misbehaving day or two before we started … Continue reading →