The Terrible Twos Tuesday

Alliteration aside, the terrible twos are upon us and it is definitely an adventure to say the least. There are days when William’s mood is amazing. He’s sweet and cuddly and super adorable. Then there are the days when he is none of those things, and is crabby, irritable, and a royal pain in the butt. And when he is crabby and irritable you best believe mommy and daddy are crabby and irritable.

Not a happy camper.

We joke that his Hilary is showing when he is throwing a temper tantrum because I cried and had tantrums ALL the time when I was a baby (and well into my teens). In third grade I didn’t want to go to school, so I chased my moms car down the block after she dropped me off. Definitely not my proudest moment, especially since everyone in my family picks on me to this day about it!

All of this temper tantrum business started over the past month, and I think that part of it is the move and being a new environment. With the move, it has been difficult getting into routine while getting adjusted to the new house and unpacking everything. Now that he is getting older, I find that when he doesn’t have a routine he tends to be crankier than when we have a “structured” day.

So now I am trying to think of ways to make our days more structured. I know the easiest one is to have set meal, snack, and nap times, but I find myself getting lost after that. I’m a very visual person, so I need to see it to get it. On Monday’s we have a mommy-and-me class at The Little Gym, and it helps that it is the same thing each week. But after that it tends to be a free for all the rest of the day.

I found this great article at Parents.com about establishing a toddler routine, and it had this sample schedule:

6:45 a.m. Wake up, play in your bed
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Get dressed, brush teeth
8:30 a.m. Read books and play
10:30 a.m. Morning snack
11:00 a.m. Arts and crafts
11:30 a.m. Listen to music
12:00 p.m. Lunch and cleanup
12:30 p.m. Naptime
2:30 p.m. Afternoon snack
3:00 p.m. Outdoor play/walk
5:30 p.m. Dinner
6:00 p.m. Playtime and cleanup
7:00 p.m. Have a bath/brush teeth
7:30 p.m. Pajamas, story time, lullabies
8:15 p.m. Bedtime

Now William has been sleeping until about 9am every morning for the past year or so, and I question if waking him up earlier would help with the tantrums. :/  We’ll have to test it out and see what works best. I know that if he enjoys waking up early, I’m going to be one tired mama because I have NEVER been a morning person. Oh the things we do for our babies.

This would be me if we start waking up at 6:45 everyday