The naughty one

I think it's no secret that kids are constantly testing their boundaries, trying to find out what they can or cannot do. And attempting to do what they cannot simply because. I try to remember that they are kids afterall and it's all part of the growing up process. But man is it trying!

Here are some examples of Kate & her misbehaviours:

Not wanting to sleep. She'll play non-stop and refuse to sleep, even when it's obvious that she's tired. Instead, she'll prefer to run about, pull at the curtains, roll around the bed and all over me. She'll scream in protest when we try to pull her prone. This is a problem because I still wish that she can have more regular sleeping hours; & earlier to bed is preferred.

Insisting on feeding herself. I guess this is a good thing since she wants to be independent and I'm all for her learning to feed herself. The mess is part & parcel and I'm fine with it, but I so wish she'll allow us to help her and/or assist her. Instead, she'll (again) scream in protest if we so much as touch her sometimes. She has also developed this habit of using her fingers to pinch her food - it's rather clever, because she can actually pick bits of food that she wants to eat rather than the whole spoonful of food. But it is a bad habit and we all know how clean kids' fingers are in general.

Throwing a tantrum. This happens as and when her mood suits her. It may be triggered because we don't allow her to eat another biscuit. Or her to touch this/that. Or when she doesn't get her way, in general. She'll throw things, she'll scream, she'll cry... it's just intolerable! So far, how the husband and I have resorted to handling this is to speak to her firmly (sometimes yelling back at her because it's just too much) and after giving her a chance to do the right thing - where she usually will not, we'll then end up smacking her.

Now. Smacking her is a constant point of contention/discussion between the husband and I. Ultimately, as much as we do not wish to traumatise her, we do agree that corporal punishment is necessary. This is given that Kate has a very strong character and we'll only smack her if she does not repent or acknowledge that she is in the wrong after we give her a chance. Of course, we'll never hit her for the sake of and the husband and I constantly moderate each others' behaviour & methods of keeping Kate in check.

Anyway, I digress. After we smack her she'll obviously cry. But we'll stand firm and hold her (while she wriggles her life away) still while trying to repeat ourselves why she has misbehaved. We'll usually sound like a broken record "you cannot throw the toy." - repeat 25times. She is a stubborn little worm & she usually will not give in. Instead, she'll rather create a bigger fuss and cry even louder. This is usually a test of patience between us as it is terribly grating and frustrating to have her kick a fuss when she's in the wrong, at the same time us remaining firm.

This is all rather interesting and I always think that it is a test of development not only for Kate, but for the husband and I too.

Guess there's a reason why it's called terrible twos universally.