Terrible 2's, Part 1

Had an email recently from my friend Deb, and she asked how the e.t.'s are doing. Below is what originally began as my answer to her. Thought y'all might enjoy hearing how those cute little e.t.'s who invaded and conquered our house last year are doing now. Enjoy, Jennifer

As for the e.t.'s...they are 2.

Yep, the terrible 2's have set in in all their full glory. Thankfully, Ellie and Grace have yet to join forces and have their bad days on the same day. Then again, if it would mean we'd get thru this phase quicker, that might be preferable. 

For example - took them to the mall Tuesday to get them new tennis shoes and sheets. Last mall outing we walked...which didn't go all that well...so on this time they were in the stroller. 

Ellie's first crying/screaming fit was prompted by not being able to ride the escalator in Sears. This was about 2 minutes into outing. After that, Ellie pitched a fit each and every time I veered out of the main walkway to go in a store. Didn't matter what type of store. Yep, tried a toy store even...full fledged, ear drum piercing fit. 

Oh, it was a lovely time. (very sarcastic emphasis on lovely, by the way) Nearly every sales clerk asked why she was crying...and tried to get her to stop...which only added fuel to the fire. 

After the 5th fit, I caved and took them to Starbucks and set them free. They were good. They stayed at the table and enjoyed their snack of vanilla milk, fruit and cheese. Even enjoyed playing peep-eye with a couple of people sitting nearby. When we were ready to be on our way again, they each picked a side of the stroller to hold onto and we walked thru the mall that way. 

All was well until it was time to go back thru Sears. I really wanted to look at new sheets for them, but knew that in order to do so they needed to be back in the stroller. Somehow, I managed to get Grace to just climb into her seat. She cried for a couple minutes when she realized she'd been duped and that I was strapping her in.

Ellie. Ah...Ellie. Tuesday's problem child. Ellie would not climb into her seat unaided. Ellie would not let me pick her up in order to set her in her seat. In fact, Ellie turned into a jelly fish when I attempted to pick her up. You know, all squishy and boneless. Took....hmmm.......at least 10 minutes to get her into the seat. Even longer to get her strapped in completely and she kept trying her best to get out. Even managed to get her arms out at one point.

Ellie's last "mall fit" lasted from the time I first tried to get her into the stroller until we were pulling out of the parking lot. About 20 minutes. She fell asleep and slept until we got home. 

At this point, I can hear the collective sigh everyone is breathing. One would think it is safe to assume that once back home all would be well. Now we all know what happens when we       ass-u-me something, right? 

Oh! But we're not done yet. This semi-asleep-had-my-nap-interrupted-Ellie didn't want to get out of the car. Nor did she want to go in the house. Once I wrangled her inside, she stood with one hand on the front door knob while holding her toy cat in the other and proceeded to pitch another crying fit. At this point, I was ready to open the door and hope she'd just wonder off, never to return. However, the prospect of years in prison stayed my hand. Instead, Grace and I ignored her. 

Gotta admit that the kid's got staying power. She stood there, right hand reaching up to the door knob and pitching her...what...like 20th fit of the day...for somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes. 

Oh! And have I mentioned that it was only 1 pm when we arrived back home? Arg!