Big news for HPM & Treebait

“G'morning, Fritz!”

“Those are sweet pictures.”

“I love the first pix. That's pretty dang funny. The second pix is priceless. Too cute.”

“God help me, the "terrible twos" have struck early.

Everything is now a battle of wills.”

“You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till the terrible teens. Although they say toddler behavior predicts teen behavior. ;-)”

“Will you please provide a few details? Huh? "Will" ya?”

“OH-OH

LOL@Pathman!

Funny NS!”

“I don't know HOW I made it thru the 2's with my middle child.....I know why there is child abuse.....I didn't abuse her ...........I would go sit on front porch and count....to like a million....she grew into a beautiful woman...”

“Like Mommy!”

“:0”

“She wants something she can't have, or will make a grab for something she shouldn't have, then I (not "we", you notice)tell her no and restrain her as she has a $hi^ fit. These can last a while. A long while. She also flails about during some of these fits, too. All she's done so far with that is hurt herself.”

“My middle child...( we will refer to her as "the evil one " henceforth) started beating her head against the floor when things didn't go her way...i stopped taking her out in public...I could not control her...(I have to say right now I had 2 other children..I was a strict parent... and my other two were good....so it wasn't my fault..LOL)”

“Hmmmmmmm. I think she is too young for what I had to do a few times. I would place the girl in the bathroom and make her stay there until she was calm and willing to behave herself.

Now, tell me: What do I do about a 20 year old girl who is unwilling to abide by house rules on hours? She still has three semester of college to finish.”

“hmmmmmm........20 is hard to deal with....”

“That's the cue to post my favorite Bill Cosby quote regarding parenting... One Mo' Time... <VBG>....

"You know that 2-year-old would kill you for that cookie if it could..."”

“did I say that "the evil one " turned out to be quite a lady>????I don't want to scare parents!!!”

“There's always the Marlon Perkins Method... Do you have an air rifle?”

“LOL..omg....”

“dunno nowslimmer...when I was 20, I was out on my own, parents weren't paying for me, and therefore couldn't tell me what to do.

Well, that didn't stop my mom from trying.”

“I'd put her in the bathroom, but she would unroll all the toilet paper, tear into little pieces, and try to forcefeed it to the cats.”

“She's only 16.5 months, too.”

“So you're still looking forward to the actual "terrible two's"... ?

<grin>”

“I feel your pain treebait.”

“One of the best things we've ever done is time out. It is very rare that the boy get one now. We avoided the "two's" all together. Kids are looking for "the line", so show it to her. Good luck!”

“Sorry to break it to you but 4 is the worst. I think you've got the right idea Q. 4 seems to be an age where the ability to do things manifests into a need to be very independant. Once they go to school there's enough uncertainty in their little minds to need parents again. Get past 4 and strengthen yourself for 13.

Just remember how amazing each and every stage of your child's life is. Remember the amazement of it all and enjoy what comes along.”

“All I can say is wait until you have teenagers. You'll look back in fond memory of the "terrible 2s".”

“I'm planning for my future teenager to love me dearly, respect my decisions, listen to her parents, get good grades, be real interested in learning, be spiritual and have a deep passion for the outdoors and hiking with her Dad.

Is that unrealistic?”

“future teenager to love me dearly, respect my decisions, listen to her parents, get good grades, be real interested in learning, be spiritual and have a deep passion for the outdoors and hiking with her Dad

Not unrealistic, but sometimes I think it is a roll of the dice. I may have one out of three, and only time will tell with the one.”

“"Don't stand in my way, Dad!"”

“I want to see actual toddler tantrum footage. (It's so cute when it's somebody else's!)”

“I have a good idea of what HPM is in for when she hits her teens. I actually think her teen years will be interesting; it's the pre teen years that are so annoying to me. I couldn't stand most preteen girls when I was one and I can't stand most of them now.”

“No tantrum cams, please. Though it is funny.”

“That is funny. I feel the same way about teenage boys.”

“I can handle preteen and teenage boys ok; after all, I have an entire scout troop to contend with. It's some of their parents that drive me berserk.”

“OMG this thread is SOOOO DAMN FUNNY!!!!!”

“Is this why HPM makes so many trips away from home?

LOL.”

“HPM is in Melrose, at Camp Shands. It's a scouting thing.”

“I understand what you are going through with your 20 year old..here's what my divorce therapist told me when I had similar challenges (read - opportunities) with my daughter:

Life is a series of choices and all of those choices have consequences. You need to make it clear to your daughter that she has choices (don't tell her what they are tho) and remind her you have choices too..when it comes to your house, it's YOUR choice what the house curfew rule is (make sure it is age appropriate). If she doesn't want to accept that as her choice, she needs to find another place to live.

I confronted my daughter with this after I caught her sneaking out her bedroom window after 12 midnight. She pulled that trick once to often and found her stuff on the porch when she got home and the keyless entry code changed.
She was going to school at the time at the Fire Academy.

She lived with a girlfriend for 3 days then came back and apologized - we never had another problem with curfew hours.

Remember, it's all about choices...good luck NS!

Tex”

“Thanks, Tex. That's the direction in which I'm headed. If she lives at home, she must obey the house curfew rules. Otherwise, she is out. I still feel obligated to help her through school, If she choses not to live at home, under a curfew, then all support, other than direct education expenses, will cease.

There are many dangers in the world, especially for a young girl. I feel that I am trying to protect her. She wants trust. She will encounter rules almost everywhere she goes in life. To gain her freedom, she must first complete school or move out on her own.

At least those are my feelings. Decisions like this hurt and one must question the objectives and the route to them. It is definitely not clear cut. I know that I have to let go, but how does one do it?”

“I'm with dhutch1 on this. The terrible twos are a peice of cake. Brace yourself for the 'f___ you Fours".”

“Thank God I never had kids!!!!!”

“I read all the stories about how horrible kids are and I wonder why anybody wount WANT to have them. I realize sometime it's the result of a drunken unprotected fukfest. But to actually plan to have them is one I'll NEVER understand.”

“Is Laurel the reason I take so many trips?

No. Frankly I'm finding it harder and harder to go on them.

I also believe that the horrors of childrearing frequently overshadow the emmense joys of childrearing when they are communicated to others without kids.”

“But the fun times are worth having kids.......my "evil one" was also so much fun.......she is wild...funny.....beautiful and a great person”

“LOL at Walkindude!!! I'm with ya, man. Thank goodness for no kids here!!!”

“I remember someone asking my wife why we never had kids, she said, "I'm having enough trouble raising my husband"

I have the greatest respect for parents....one of the toughtest jobs in the world.”

“Me too! I'm childfree!”

“Kids are necessary. You have to have someone to whom you can leave your money!”

“I have a couple friends standing in line for my gear. I actually put Amy in my will for most of my climbing gear. The rest are going to have to prove to my wife who deserves it more.”

“I don't for a second ever regret having children - dirty diapers, midnight barf-fests, wars of will and all.”