Terrible Ones and Twos

The other night Tyler was in a fit of rage madly throwing his body around. Because I have read many child-care articles on how to deal with such a situation, I knew that at this moment it was best to ignore the tantrum and let it pass. As is the case in most of these situations, Tyler hit his head purposefully against the wall and began to demand that I kiss it better. Not wanting to give reward to his behavior, I refused to kiss a boo-boo that was the direct result of an unnecessary tantrum. Tyler then settled down and asked if he could give Mommy a kiss. Of course I told him this was the better action and leaned over for him to give me a kiss. He immediately responded by pretending to lean in for the kiss and at the last moment ducked his head down so that my lips were against his head. It took a moment to sink in, but I realized that I had just been beaten by a 2 year old.

This reminded me of another time that Tyler out-smarted his parents. Many months ago, Arthur was working on his lap-top computer. Of course, Tyler was very intrigued and wanted nothing but to explore every button. Arthur explained very clearly that touching the computer was not going to be allowed and removed his hand from the premises. Tyler then put his finger-tip up to the very edge of the computer and looked at Arthur with the most innocent face as if to ask if this would be acceptable. This action was also rejected. A moment later, a small toe reached its way up to the edge of the computer accompanied by the same innocent smile. Rejected again. Finally, Tyler grabbed a pillow and pushed it up to the very edge of the computer and placed his toe against the very edge of the pillow. Would this be accepted? We could do nothing but laugh. Our 20 month old had won the game.