The Terrible Two's

We are now officially in the terrible two’s stage. Tantrums and outbursts whenever Caitlyn doesn’t get what she wants have increasingly become more frequent. I’d like to enact the Way of the Iron Fist method of discipline where ‘no’ means ‘no’ and there is zero emotion shown for tears that are shed. However, with the wife staging a filibuster, it’s been a bit hard to get this passed through.

My ideology is pretty simple. “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” I learned that on the first day of teaching in a classroom. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. They know who they can and cannot manipulate around. As long as you stick to your guns and you don’t cave into their demands, they’ll respect what you say and do.

The wife more or less accepts this notion, but where we begin to stray is how to apply this when we’re out in public. I could care less if Caitlyn decides to throw a fit in a restaurant because we won’t give her the phone to play with. ‘No’ means ‘no’ in my book. I’ll take her outside to calm down before taking her back in as many times as it takes for her to realize this. However, the wife would rather have a quiet, stress-free meal, and will thus give Caitlyn whatever she asks for.

I don’t believe there should be two sets of rules that govern behavior in the house and outside. If you don’t cave-in to demands in the house, why would it suddenly be ok outside of the house? There needs to be consistency across the board.

However, I can understand where the wife is coming from. After all, the screams and cries of a baby in tantrum are enough to drive most people crazy. And as an added bonus, you get to be subjected to the stares of others as they look at you struggling with your kid. But to me, this is just a short-term fix. Yes, the baby is quiet and behaved because you’ve given her what she wants, but that doesn’t solve the long-term problem of listening to and respecting what you say.

Caitlyn is a pretty stubborn baby and doesn’t give-in so easily, but thankfully, I am just as equally stubborn and unwilling to cave-in. Now I just need to get the wife onboard so we can tag-team up and crush out the terrible two’s. Maybe giving her some earplugs and a disguise to wear in public might just be enough to sway her my way!

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