Meet my son, Jack. He will be two years old in September. But he’s already the face of the terrible twos. He looks cute, but don’t be fooled. Tantrums weren’t enough for him, he decided to knock his head on the floor every time life isn’t perfect to him. And this happens a lot of time… I might even consider getting him a helmet at this point. 

“My mom refuses to give me cookies for diner”

“The nice bird flew away”

“I’m not allowed to drive mom’s car”

“They installed a pool fence”

“Mom yelled at me because I threw the soap in the toilet”

“Some kid took my pacifier”

“Dad is going to work”

“Nobody gets me”

“Mom won’t let me play with a dead cockroach” 

“I can’t write an article on mom’s blog”

And so on. Everyday this little human learns frustration. And he shares every minute of it with me. I’m so blessed. My daughter didn’t have such a hard period. Although we though we knew what the terrible twos were, we truly discovered them with Jack. 

They say that’s why we don’t recall anything before 3 years old. Because it would be too traumatic. But is there a trick like that for us parents??? A fast forward maybe? Life is so hard for him at this point. It’s hard to understand the world and even harder to make himself clear. Jack is raised in 4 languages every day. I speak French, his father speaks Dutch, his friends, Nanny and sister speaks English and he goes to a sort of Filipino day care. So now, I have NO idea which language he speaks. It’s a mess. It looks a lot like Russian. But it’s ok. I don’t really worry. His sister spoke very late, and now trust me, I’m so fed up with her talking. She never stops!

Jack is a miraculous baby. Meaning him and I, almost died during labor. Not really the best day of your life those pregnancy magazines told you about. Like all the BS people sell about motherhood. His first months were easy. Easy like a second baby. You already know the stuffs; you are less worried. But he always had trouble with limitations. 

But Jack is also super sweet and loving. While his sister has always been an independent proud little girl, he’s a mama’s boy. And like a true college playboy, he plays hard to get… But the minute he takes a look on you, you completely fall for him. And he knows it. That’s also why he’s allowed to do all these tantrums. In our compound, Jack is super popular. He is super pale, very rare around here, he has dark green eyes and a chin cleft. So, when I’m not “the Belgian diplomat’s wife” I’m “Jack’s mom”. I hope someday I’ll get to be “Cécile” 🙂 He is so popular; he gets free stuffs on a daily basis. He even got a free toy from an employee last time he threw a tantrum at the mall! Talk about a reward… In this country, kids are kings. Whatever their behavior. Then it’s hard to keep up with the discipline. 

So here we are, stuck for one year with this terrible two. Before he turns into a threenager. The difference is, our new life. More travels, more parties, meeting new faces.  

What about you? Did your kids experiment different levels of terrible twos? Do you have any trick? Or did you start drinking wine before noon? (Just asking for a friend). And for those without kids, do you have more understanding for a parent of a 2 years old than the others? Do you realize the challenge?