I recently made the following comment on Facebook, although now I don't even remember what inspired the post.
Yesterday we did two of the things that currently make me feel this way. 1) Shopping, especially when it involves small children trying things on, and 2) eating out in a sit down restaurant. Other things that currently elicit a similar sentiment are getting Silas into the nursery at bedtime, buckling them into their carseats following any outing, and changing diapers.
Four words sum up the problem: TWO-YEAR-OLD TANTRUMS
Excuse me, five words: TWO TWO-YEAR-OLD TANTRUMS
Part I, Shopping:
We had amassed a long enough list of kids' clothes and shoe needs that I decided it warranted a trip to the Wrentham Outlets. The outlets are ~40 minutes away; thankfully S&Z do great in the car, so there were no problems there. Apparently everyone else in eastern MA had the same idea as we did, however, so the traffic was backed up on the freeway 1/4 mile leading up to the exit. It probably took us an hour door-to-door, but I've heard that it could've been worse.
The two most critical items on the shopping list were a winter coat for Silas and shoes for both kids. Anything else we could manage would be a bonus. We decided to head to Stride Rite first. The last time I went to the Stride Rite outlet was in the late spring. I made the never-to-be-repeated decision to bring the kids, who had CROUP, to the Arsenal Mall, BY MYSELF. I did manage to get 2 pairs of sandals and 2 pairs of sneakers for < $100, but all 3 of us were totally traumatized in the process. This time it was much better having 2-on-2 coverage. We sized both kids' feet in just a few minutes, and Derek kid wrangled while I picked out sneakers for Zoe, who is now a size 7. Then it my turn to kid wrangle while Derek picked out dress shoes for Silas for the holidays. Both kids tried on the shoes and we were all set in a fairly short amount of time. When it was time to checkout and get back in the wagon Silas threw his first full force, very public temper tantrum. Derek & I were initially completely mortified, but then we realized that (thank goodness) we were in Stride Rite of all places. We got several sympathetic looks from other parents, and one dad even said that it made him feel better when other people's kids also threw tantrums in public. By this point we were almost chuckling to ourselves, because it's a weird comraderie that you sometimes feel with other parents of small children. Derek wheeled out the wagon, which after going to battle contained Silas who was a sobbing mess, and Zoe who was very la-la-la through the whole episode. At the end of it all, we scored with both pairs of shoes for < $50. It took Silas a solid 10 minutes to recover before we moved on to address the next critical clothes need.
Next we looked for the winter coat. We checked Carter's that ended up not having very good sales, but we did get 2 long-sleeved shirts for Silas and a pair of tights for Zoe for < $25. We stopped at a few other places along the way, but ultimately got the coat at Osh Kosh. It's adorable, and given two choices (one gray and one electric blue), Silas picked it out himself (electric blue). We got the coat and two pairs of awesome mittens (one for each kid) for < $50.
Part II, Lunch:
By this point everyone was hungry and cranky so we headed to Ruby Tuesday since it would be at least a 45 minute drive home. Within two minutes of sitting in the high chair, Zoe threw her crayon down on the table and pushed herself back and said "all done". Derek & I just looked at each other and placed our drink order.
I won't go into details, but lunch was pretty stressful to say the least. When I asked my friend Dave how their most recent meal out with their 2-year-old twin girls had gone, he just replied "not pleasant". Derek vowed after our last awful brunch experience 3 weeks ago that we were not taking the kids out until "we're out of this effing phase!!!!!".
Apparently we're gluttons for punishment.
The double header of toddler torture ended up with two exhausted kids (and parents!) getting home almost an hour past their usual naptime. They sat on the stoop out front and wanted to play with all the leaves that had fallen overnight. When they were told it was time to come inside and wind down, Silas threw another holy s**t fit. After we finally got them inside and I was taking off his coat and shoes, he grabbed my hair with both hands and yanked. Hard.
You can imagine how well that went over.
I would walk across a sea of burning coals for my kids, but they still sometimes make me want to stab my eyes out with hot pokers.
There are certain aspects of parenting two 2-year-olds that makes me want to stab my eyes out with hot pokers.
Yesterday we did two of the things that currently make me feel this way. 1) Shopping, especially when it involves small children trying things on, and 2) eating out in a sit down restaurant. Other things that currently elicit a similar sentiment are getting Silas into the nursery at bedtime, buckling them into their carseats following any outing, and changing diapers.
Four words sum up the problem: TWO-YEAR-OLD TANTRUMS
Excuse me, five words: TWO TWO-YEAR-OLD TANTRUMS
Part I, Shopping:
We had amassed a long enough list of kids' clothes and shoe needs that I decided it warranted a trip to the Wrentham Outlets. The outlets are ~40 minutes away; thankfully S&Z do great in the car, so there were no problems there. Apparently everyone else in eastern MA had the same idea as we did, however, so the traffic was backed up on the freeway 1/4 mile leading up to the exit. It probably took us an hour door-to-door, but I've heard that it could've been worse.
The two most critical items on the shopping list were a winter coat for Silas and shoes for both kids. Anything else we could manage would be a bonus. We decided to head to Stride Rite first. The last time I went to the Stride Rite outlet was in the late spring. I made the never-to-be-repeated decision to bring the kids, who had CROUP, to the Arsenal Mall, BY MYSELF. I did manage to get 2 pairs of sandals and 2 pairs of sneakers for < $100, but all 3 of us were totally traumatized in the process. This time it was much better having 2-on-2 coverage. We sized both kids' feet in just a few minutes, and Derek kid wrangled while I picked out sneakers for Zoe, who is now a size 7. Then it my turn to kid wrangle while Derek picked out dress shoes for Silas for the holidays. Both kids tried on the shoes and we were all set in a fairly short amount of time. When it was time to checkout and get back in the wagon Silas threw his first full force, very public temper tantrum. Derek & I were initially completely mortified, but then we realized that (thank goodness) we were in Stride Rite of all places. We got several sympathetic looks from other parents, and one dad even said that it made him feel better when other people's kids also threw tantrums in public. By this point we were almost chuckling to ourselves, because it's a weird comraderie that you sometimes feel with other parents of small children. Derek wheeled out the wagon, which after going to battle contained Silas who was a sobbing mess, and Zoe who was very la-la-la through the whole episode. At the end of it all, we scored with both pairs of shoes for < $50. It took Silas a solid 10 minutes to recover before we moved on to address the next critical clothes need.
Next we looked for the winter coat. We checked Carter's that ended up not having very good sales, but we did get 2 long-sleeved shirts for Silas and a pair of tights for Zoe for < $25. We stopped at a few other places along the way, but ultimately got the coat at Osh Kosh. It's adorable, and given two choices (one gray and one electric blue), Silas picked it out himself (electric blue). We got the coat and two pairs of awesome mittens (one for each kid) for < $50.
Part II, Lunch:
By this point everyone was hungry and cranky so we headed to Ruby Tuesday since it would be at least a 45 minute drive home. Within two minutes of sitting in the high chair, Zoe threw her crayon down on the table and pushed herself back and said "all done". Derek & I just looked at each other and placed our drink order.
I won't go into details, but lunch was pretty stressful to say the least. When I asked my friend Dave how their most recent meal out with their 2-year-old twin girls had gone, he just replied "not pleasant". Derek vowed after our last awful brunch experience 3 weeks ago that we were not taking the kids out until "we're out of this effing phase!!!!!".
Apparently we're gluttons for punishment.
The double header of toddler torture ended up with two exhausted kids (and parents!) getting home almost an hour past their usual naptime. They sat on the stoop out front and wanted to play with all the leaves that had fallen overnight. When they were told it was time to come inside and wind down, Silas threw another holy s**t fit. After we finally got them inside and I was taking off his coat and shoes, he grabbed my hair with both hands and yanked. Hard.
You can imagine how well that went over.
I would walk across a sea of burning coals for my kids, but they still sometimes make me want to stab my eyes out with hot pokers.
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