Being a parent is all about what you can teach your child but also what you can learn from your child. Hattie has taught me many things, in someway, Hattie has taught me far more than I could ever teach her. She has taught me how it is possible to love something this much, this love is unimaginable and damn right scary but it came to me so easy and so fast.
I have taught Hattie how to walk, talk, her manners, how to be kind, her ABC’s, how to count to 10 and many other things but what she has taught me is far greater. She has had phases throughout her two and a half years that have tested me and made me feel like I am not good enough to be her mother.
When Hattie turned one she decided that she didn’t want to try new foods anymore and that she didn’t really want to eat at all and to be honest, it scared the life out of me but after seeing her health visitor, getting her weighed more often than usual I realised that its a normal thing to happen. Most children go through this phase and even if one day they don’t want to eat at all then no matter how much it worries you, you cant make a big deal out of it. You just have to carry on like normal and more times than not, they will get their appetite back and they will once again eat you out of house and home. A year and a half later and Hattie still wont try new foods and does go back and forth with eating ridiculous amounts and then eating absolutely nothing at all but that’s ok because she is still putting on weight and is still happy and healthy.
This last week and half has been the hardest I have experienced since becoming a mam. I have had to fight with Hattie about everything.
I’ve had to fight her to eat, to get dressed, to brush her teeth, to do anything that she doesn’t want to do. I never knew you could argue with a toddler until last week and now we argue at least twice a day. She has gone from the easiest child in the world to an absolute devil. She also likes hitting and punching when she has a tantrum, not just to me but to herself. So I can’t even ignore her when she’s kicking off about absolutely nothing because she will attack herself!!
She’s gobby and wiser than her years so everything is hard work right about now. I feel physically exhausted every single day and to make things worse, she isn’t well so she’s naturally touchy about everything. 8 times out of 10 she’s perfect but she does make up for it with her ridiculous tantrums she has, I have never heard anyone scream like she does.
Also time out doesn’t work on my child because when she is upset she will take herself away from the situation and leave the room to be by herself so time out to her isn’t punishment, its ideal.
This whole blog post is about how right now, I am mentally and physically struggling and its all thanks to the “terrible two’s.” (And her red hair of course) so thank you Terrible two’s, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making my life hard work with the stroppiness and the bossiness.
Oh and thank you for knocking my diet on the head because Hattie’s attitude lately has made me stress eat.
hattiesmum 