Terrible

All ages come with their challenges. Newborns need constant attention and deny your sleep, one year olds are constantly finding ways to get themselves killed, but only two year olds are actually named after how terrible they can be.

I love the internet, but it has a few negative consequences. One such consequence is that it causes us to radicalize every issue. Everything is either incredible, or the worst. There's very little room for nuance. This could be said for the way we discuss parenting online. Sometimes it's shown to be a complete train wreck that ruins your life, other times it's glorified above all else. I don't want either of those things to be what this space is for. I want this space to be an honest look at what being a dad is really like.

Honestly, sometimes it's really hard. When Grace was just starting to interact with us, she was the sweetest, most innocent thing you could imagine.

Look at that face. How could that face ever cause anyone any trouble? Terrible twos? Yeah, like my sweetie is ever going to hit that stage. Honestly, by the time she hit 2 I still felt that way. Sure, she was a little more strong willed, but she was so sweet.

I didn't really notice it until her brother came along. Suddenly, she wasn't getting all the attention she was used to. That's when she started acting out. She's clever, because she knows when you're busy. The time to do it is when there's only one parent, and they're busy with Isaac. What's that? I can't throw my food? Well you're busy with Isaac, so across the room it goes!

Or when she does little things like intentionally hit or scratch you, and then laughs when you tell her to stop. Honestly, it's weird how you can feel hurt by the laughter. Suddenly your sweet little baby finds your pain amusing. You know that she doesn't really know what's going on, and that she loves you, but it's hard to be rationale in some of these moments. Especially when you haven't gotten a proper nights sleep in weeks because of the new addition.

Having a two year old is hard. They're smart enough to remember things for months, but you still can't explain long term consequences. Sometimes you forget that they're still toddlers, because they understand so much of what's going on, but they are. You can only reason so much with them.

Grace has moments where her behaviour could be described as terrible. Moments, where as a parent, you're left dumbfounded and frustrated. But there's another sense in which Grace is terrible...

Grace is terribly curious. She wants to know what everything is and how it works. She loves to learn.

Grace is terribly imaginative. Baking strawberry cakes is her favourite new game, but strawberries can be anything. They can be her toys, Mr. Potato head pieces, her lego, or thin air. 

Grace is terribly loving. The amount of hugs and kisses everyone in our family gets is amazing. She's stepped up her hug game too, they involve squeezes now!

While the terrible twos can be frustrating, they can also be exciting. Watching her play evolve, seeing her language skills grow, seeing her memory expand, seeing her develop traits like empathy. These things are all incredibly exciting. Terribly exciting. There will be bumps along the road. There will always be challenges. That's okay. Grace will always be my little girl. She's still sweet and innocent. She's developing a personality before my eyes, and it's inspiring. If this is the trade off, well, a little terrible never killed anybody.