Can I ever go out in public again?

[AmeliaEarhart]

DS is 2.3, DD is 4 months. I look after them both full time at the moment. I decided to take them to the library this morning, and in a moment of insanity decided to leave the buggy at home and let DS walk and catch the bus. I should have seen the direction things were going in when he lay down on the pavement outside our front gate, and had to be coaxed and carried to the bus stop at the end of the road.

He was good on the bus, and okay at the library to begin with. When he started pulling cups out of the water dispenser and tried to snatch a toy from the only other child in the library I decided it was time to go home for lunch. DS didn't like this idea and was already screaming under my arm by the time we got back to the bus stop. He knocked over the shopping of a man waiting in the shelter, and I only had time for a flustered apology as I carried him kicking and screaming on to our bus. I had to pin him in his seat for the whole journey home as he screeched and thrashed. He kept knocking his baby sister (who was in the sling) and making her cry.

I didn't dare look at any of the other passengers. I heard muttering behind me and glanced up once and there was an older woman giving me a filthy look. At our stop I carried off and apologised to the driver, then staggered up the road to the house with him still flailing under my arm.

He's calmed down now and is watched Peppa. I hoped writing it all down would help me see the funny side but I still just want to sob. Why is it so bloody hard? Why do I never see other toddlers behaving like this? I just want to stay indoors and never go out again.

[Totallyataloss]

I feel your pain... Just remember that tomorrow is another day. Hope your day improves.

[steppemum]

Amelia - there was a thread last week

'Why an I the only person carrying a screaming toddler down the street?'

So you are not alone. We have been there too, just one of those days when it all goes wrong, and for some reason your normally nice toddler turns into the mad toddler from hell.

have a

[Quenelle]

They all do it. My extremely placid 3.6yo DS had the first major strop of his life in John Lewis just after Christmas because I wouldn't buy him the (adult size 9) inline skates he had set his heart on.

Have a sit down and a for five minutes. I'm sure there will be plenty of parents along in a minute to share similar stories and commiserate.

[AmeliaEarhart]

Thanks Totally. Only 5 hours until DH gets home for bedtime...

I don't blame the woman on the bus really, but I just didn't know what else to do other than get him home as quickly as possible. It's so hard trying to carry him with the baby in the sling and when he's thrashing about, and he absolutely refuses to walk. I feel like he'll never learn to walk sensibly if he's always in the pushchair, but when we go out without it this happens!

[AmeliaEarhart]

... And thanks Quenelle and Steppemum. I'm a very slow typist
I have to pull myself together and think of an activity for the afternoon. There are only so many episodes of Peppa on Youtube.

[claraschu]

You poor thing-

I used to tell myself that I was providing a public service when my kids behaved like this. I was giving all the other parents on the bus a delightful opportunity to feel smug about how much better they had brought up their kids. (Or at least to feel grateful that it wasn't their kids acting up at that moment.)

[Grumpla]

Believe me, I feel your pain.

I never really saw the point of prams when DS1 was an only, much preferred slings.

Now I have two children, I very much see the point of having a child-immobiliser/straitjacket-on-wheels at my disposal at ALL TIMES when leaving the house.

[Mooshbag]

Whenever DD does this type of thing I always feel like she's the only one who does it. You're definitely not alone. It's something that most toddlers go through, no matter how placid they are. It's not your fault and anything/nothing can set it off.

[ColdWinterNights]

You're not the only one believe me.

I think people who have older children forget what the terrible twos are like.

Also as said up thread tomorrow is another day.

[Rockchick1984]

I only have 1DS at the moment and have been there with the meltdowns at the least convenient time

On a practical note, is the sling you use for DD suitable for back carries? Far easier to pop her onto your back so you aren't restricted if you don't have the pram with you!

[BackforGood]

Sending you some un-MN-y hugs

We've all been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.
Generally, those looks you get off others are really sympathy, or relief that we are no longer in that phase, it's just that, at the time, you interpret it that people are looking daggers at you.

Just remember - it's a phase, and they do outgrow it.

[recall]

You really are NOT alone. I have had some truly awful experiences, and similarly to you, it has been times when I am trying to do the best for them. It would have been easier for you to stay at home, so well done for trying I say.

[StickEmWithThePointyEnd]

My tip, don't look embarrassed or apologetic when the toddler is making a show of you, look stern and "I mean business" and no one will dare give you a dirty look again (thats my experience anyway). Also helps ds know I'm not amused! I feel your pain.

[zeldapinwheel]

This morning I had to carry a screaming dd (2.6 ) from the lake back to the car,past lots of dog walkers and fishing people who all seemed to be tutting.

We'd run out of bread and the ducks refused to eat the leaves she was throwing at them. So obviously it was the end of the world.

[NoHank]

You are not alone. My 2.8 year old always saves the best for the school playground first thing in the morning to ensure the largest audience possible. I have lost count of the number of times I have carried her out kicking and screaming tucked under my arm.

The reason you don't see other toddlers behaving like this is because all your attention is being taken up by yours. Believe me, they are all around you!

Have a and count down the hours till time, after all, tomorrow is another day

[AmeliaEarhart]

Backforgood, I don't think bus lady was sympathetic. She was still glaring at me through the window and shaking her head as the bus drove away after we'd got off. It probably looked as if I wasn't even trying to calm DS, but he was so hysterical there was nothing I could do but try and get home without him injuring himself / me / the baby. The driver gave me a kind (if pitying) smile though.

'Straightjacket-on-wheels' made me laugh. Not fail-safe though - we lost a brand new welly last week when he kicked it off while tantrumming in the buggy and I was too blinded by misery and embarrassment to notice.

I'll look out the thread steppemum mentions for some comfort.

[Nicolaeus]

I had to carry a screaming kicking toddler out of a toy shop the other day - he kept falling off a toy and hurting himself so I got fed up and said we had to move to a different part of the shop.

I was a bit embarassed but figured it happens lots in toy shops!

Only got sympathetic looks though (i think - thats how I chose to interpret them anyway)

[Tee2072]

Been there, done that. And we were getting off at the last stop.

I hauled him off the bus, apologizing to everyone else along the way, sank down on the side of the road holding onto him and burst into tears. Then had to haul him home. He was around 2.9, 3, something like that.

Next time? Use the pushchair! He'll get the walking thing, I promise! My son, now 3.9, walks 3 miles a day to get to school and decided on his own he didn't need the pushchair and hasn't had a fit like that one in ages.

[AllSWornOut]

I got to carry DC1 kicking and screaming to the CM this morning. I left him knocking forlornly at the door and WAILING at the top of his lungs didn't really but was tempted to Don't think my CM was too pleased to see us

[MarianForrester]

This happens to everyone; rest assured you are one of millions.

I am still haunted by a particular memory of one such occasion, when had to walk to length of a cafe and attached garden centre with dd and numerous bags/coats under arm, full on kicking and screaming, couldn't remember way out in my flustered state, staff asking "is everything all right...?"

Aaaargh.

[matana]

The worst is when they do the "slippery fish" routine and make themselves go all floppy so you can't even pick them up off the floor effectively without looking like incompetence personified. Ds did this at lunchtime when I was trying to get him into the car seat before an oncoming car was able to take the door off. He just crumpled in a floppy heap and dissolved into floods of tears sort of half way underneath my car. Ds is 2.2. I only hope he gets to see 3.

[HamAlive]

I usually feel like it's just my 2 year old who likes to do that in public. I took him to the library a couple of weeks ago, there were two little girls there sat choosing books nicely. DS stomps in, tries to climb in the book box to get up onto the windowsill, sat on a shelf, knocked over another girl's block tower, walked over to the older children's section and started pulling books off the shelf. Then I discovered he'd pooed so I had to change him (they have a baby change thankfully!) but that involved more kicking and hysterical laughing.

Once we had to wait 30 minutes for the bus because it was delayed. That didn't end well.

You really aren't alone! If you lived near me I'd meet you for coffee, I could do with a friend who understands!

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

ColdWinterNights, not true that the parents of older dc forget the toddler years. One particular tantrum my ds1 threw stays with me still; he's now 26 and recently became a father.

[AbigailAdams]

Amelia, I am one of those who sees your DS like that and just thinks, there for the grace of god go I. I have also had so many sympathetic looks and words off people whilst one or other of mine has been flying off the handle. Honestly, most other parents are with you in spirit. Non-parents - well meh. Their time may well be coming