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This article was written on 05 Jan 2014, and is filled under Advice, Everyday Baby, Everyday Parent.

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Terrible Two’s – Standing his ground

The ‘terrible two’s’ or ‘the battle of the wills’ as I like to call them, are in full flow, and B has recently added a new ‘tactic’ to his box of tricks.

Today we went shopping. In the middle of a busy isle, a busy shopping centre and a busy town centre, B decided that he didn’t want to walk any further. So he stopped walking. Dead in his tracks.

In an effort not to pander to his every show of defiance, we continued to walk. Problem was he didn’t move, and showed no inclination whatsoever of doing so.

Standing still

Standing Still 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standing Still 2

 

So what do you do in these situations? Cause a scene, storm back to get him and pick him up? Stand your ground and see who breaks first? Beg and plead with him to move? Whatever you do it will all be in front of other shoppers, some amused and some no doubt judging you on your parenting skills, that your toddler is even as stubborn as he is.

On the three separate instances that this has happened: once he broke and followed us after we walked off; another time I broke and ran to get him as he was quite literally stopping traffic, and more recently I lured him to us with something I knew would take his fancy.

Is there a right thing to do in these situations? I know that he is just ‘flexing his muscles’ but boy is it testing. Advice, thoughts and/or tips would be much appreciated.

 

Standing Still 3

 


12 Comments

  1. Teddy (@MultitaskMomma)
    January 5, 2014

    Haha this is too funny, my daughter does the same thing and unfortunately I’m always the one to give in while looking at the other shoppers wondering what they are thinking. It is very testing and truthfully embarrassing!!

    • upallhours
      January 6, 2014

      My other half is so good at not caring what anyone else thinks! Need to care less to reduce the embarrassment factor! xx

  2. polly
    January 6, 2014

    Sam I love this, we had a stand off in the park yesterdat Flossy refused to walk, couldn’t physically lift the heavy weight anymore decided
    That she would sit in the mud until her carriage myself and Tom would pick her up! Princess comes to mind!! Hope you are all well? Xx

    • upallhours
      January 6, 2014

      HI darling, cracks me up! Flossy and B are so similar in their strong mindedness! Ha! We are all good, look forward to seeing you guys soon hopefully. Thanks for commenting hun xx

  3. Name *
    January 6, 2014

    Oh these situations are set to test us parents! Only you can know which way to act with your child, I have found with 6 they all respond differently to situations and to me. #Whatsthestory

    • upallhours
      January 6, 2014

      They are indeed! Guess one just has to roll with the punches 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment x

  4. sarah
    January 6, 2014

    i have to say this did make me smile, my son used to do this!!

  5. Tarana
    January 6, 2014

    This happens with our two-year old all the time. Firstly, I try not to get pressured into thinking that other people are judging me as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ parent. Toddlers are naturally stubborn, and what works for me is telling him what he’s missing by not moving on! Glad to have connected with you on Twitter, loving your blog!

    • upallhours
      January 6, 2014

      I am glad that it’s not just our two year old who is pulling this move! You are completely right, I need to not worry about the strangers, guess they are exactly that, strangers. So glad to have connected with you. Really look forward to reading your blog and tweeting! x

  6. Charly Dove
    January 6, 2014

    Oh my goodness that’s too funny – more so because of your photos! We have a toddler that just just stops or ambles off at times too. Other than catching them I’m not sure I’ve any useful advice, thank you for sharing though #whatsthestory

  7. Katie
    January 6, 2014

    heeehee! Only laughing because we’ve all been there before. I still try to pull that one one my husband. Just last week, I wanted to climb to the top of a massive hill and on. He didn’t. I tried standing my ground. Alone, in the cold wet rain in Wales with no map or compass to my name, I eventually trotted back down the hill to catch up with him.
    He thinks he got away with it, but the next time I’ll be even more stubborn.

  8. Lystra Maisey
    January 7, 2014

    O wow, I share your pain! Raffie refused to stand up in the Post Office today and crawled off pretending to be a baby. I got cross but in the end had to laugh really as I dragged him out the door. Outside he was fine-I don’t know why he insists doing this I in shops but I just try and distract him if I can-it’s very hard though! x

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