I am exhausted!

[vtmom]

2.5 year old twins are hard. They've always been more work than one (they have a 4 year old sibling so I know what 1 child is like), but 2.5 is killing me. I have become a yeller and I hate yelling. It's so hard to teach them anything because there's always a distraction. They're always in a rush to make sure their sibling doesn't get something they don't get or to get to something first that they don't stop to listen. I don't know where this comes from because we bend over backwards to treat them equally. Every request I make is met with, "no" or some other opposing response. I get a few hours away from them each week (they visit their grandmother so I can get bigger projects, appointments, etc., done) and I LOVE those days and naptime and I feel so guilty that I am so excited when I have time away from them. I know these day are going to fly by and I have to savor the good moments, but all the tantrums and whining are soooo exhausting when they are multiplied by 2!

Thanks for letting me vent.

[hillview]

:grouphug: that sounds hard. It was hard when the boys (NOT twins) were 2.5 and 4.5.

[ArizonaGirl]

I agree, I only have my two singles and I found 2.5 to be very hard with my DS. I can't even imagine :bowdown:

I think you just have to make it through this age and try to see the light on the other side of the tunnel.

Vent away...

[vtmom]

Thanks for the support. Hoping other moms, especially of multiples will chime in with survival tips for the toddler years times two!

[twowhat?]

Oh, that age is so hard, twins or not but with twins you're not just dealing with the age - you're dealing with two of them and their interactions with each other and it really is just that much harder when you have two...who are at the exact same developmental stage competing for things that are equally coveted, etc. It is extra hard! It doesn't matter how equally you treat them, they will find a way to compete (I am laughing as I remember when they used to compete over the toilet...as in who could get there first...whoever got there first would throw herself over the freakin' bowl and scream in triumph while the other would scream in frustration). Having twins at this stage is a special sort of purgatory!

3 got even harder for us. Really, it was hell as one of our twins was especially difficult. At 4 we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. At 4.5 I can say that we are SO much better off.

So, it will pass but you might need a padded cell in the meantime...or just lots and lots of alcohol...

As far as coping strategies...uhhh...let's just say that once you get past it, I think the brain takes a bit of mercy on you and makes you forget just how horrible it was. :)
But really - venting here helped me a ton. You can probably find lots and lots of my venting posts:)