Move over terrible twos, the threenagers are coming and they are a force to be reckoned with…
Learning the word ‘no’ and growing in independence, two-year-olds can be a handful, but have nothing compared to the 21 Century threenagers!
Watch out for these warning signs that a threenager is about to take over your home.
Be prepared, be very prepared for...the threenager!
- Check out these tell tale signs that a threenager is set to invade your home
Forget terrible twos, the threenagers are here!
1. ‘I’m not tired!’
If you have a threenager about to take over, you will hear this phrase, possibly more than 20 times a day. ‘I’m not tired!’
You will usually hear this hollered when it is bedtime (of course!) and when she is in fact so tired and in need of a nap that her eyes are rolling in the vain effort to stay awake.
2. The world is over as sandwiches are cut…wait for it…into squares not triangles…!
In a moment of madness, you have cut your three-year-old’s sandwich into squares – just what were you thinking?
‘I want triangles!’ ‘I’m not eating it!’ will ring in your ears for the next hour at least as a tantrum to end all tantrums takes over your home.
3. The ’why?’ question
It doesn’t matter what you say or tell your threenager, the response will always be the same. ‘Why?’ Why is the response to everything you tell them, and as hard as you try to give an adequate response that a three-year-old can understand, inevitably you will end up saying, ‘just because’ in utter frustration at the amount of questions you’re bombarded with.
4. ‘I want to do it by my own’
This, or a similar sounding phrase is very common with threenagers as stubborn independence starts shining through. It inevitably means that everywhere you go, you need to plan in an extra half an hour so that your little angel can put on her own shoes and do them up, fumble with every button on her coat, and the endless joy of waiting while she attaches her own car seat belt.
5. The wardrobe changes
You thought you had a huge pile washing before, nothing can prepare for the outfit changes that ensue when a threenager is around. You will hear many phrases like: ‘I’m changing, this jumper is itchy’, ‘I don’t want to wear these trousers with this top’, and of course, particularly with boys: ‘I accidently fell head first into the muddy puddle,’ cue the washing machine…
6. Don’t ever say: ‘It’s time to go’
This is the phrase that can turn a happy, angelic three-year-old into an enraged threenager in a matter of seconds. Yes, try the five minute warning, but ultimately, when that phrase leaves your lips, be prepared for World War 3.
7. Patience is not a virtue of a threenager
When informed by your threenager that she is hungry or wants to watch an episode of Peppa Pig, there is no point in saying: ‘just a minute’ or ‘I will do this shortly’ as what she mean is I want it and I want it NOW!
8. ‘Where are you?’
This will be a phrase you use a lot and usually when it is time to get dressed or prepare to leave the house, this is the time your threenager will suddenly be engrossed in a game, usually something really unhelpful like hide and seek, great, nursery starts in 10 minutes and I don’t even know where you are…
9. Eating out is out of bounds
Forget it, it’s truly not worth the hassle, if you try and have a nice family meal out, your threenager will probably flatly refuse to order a children’s meal, insisting that she is ‘STARVING!’ and then proceed to insist on an adult size meal only to take one look at it and say: ‘I don’t like it.’
10. Three is key
Because your little angel is three, everything has to be in threes, whatever you give her, for goodness sake don’t try and give her just one, or even two, once again, a tantrum to end all tantrums will begin…
But just remember, we ALL go through it, and they won’t be three forever…