Raise your hand and say your name you who did not hear of the word tantrum, of the expression “terrible twos” and you who never heard a parent saying: “I don’t have patience for this!”, “I need coffee. Lots of it!” or “My child is possessed!”. How about “I am losing it. I can’t cope with this”?

I think each and every one of us heard this not only once from a parent. Raising a two year old is hard, it’s a challenge and it’s exhausting and it gets to you sooner or later. I found myself so many times wanting to scream and shout, feeling hopeless and thinking I can’t do this. Since my daughter turned two, I found myself questioning my parenting skills and also my sanity on daily basis.

Between chaotic naps, tantrums and most definitely fussy eating phase, it all may seem like hell on Earth and I get that. Completely. I have my challenging moments with my daughter when she is making efforts to communicate different things when she hasn’t mastered the art of speech yet. She gets frustrated, starts crying and I start guessing what she wants until I give up cause I got no patience for this or I am just out of ideas.

There is no doubt that it’s so difficult you almost want to knock yourself out on painkillers from all the headache but on the other hand there the positive aspects of raising a two year old. And there are quite a few of them:

1. They give the best cuddles and kisses in the world – there is nothing more comforting and beautiful than feeling her tiny body wrapped around mine
2. Their laughter in absolutely infectious and most definitely a source of joy for every parent
3. They are extremely helpful and happy to oblige – from pretending to hoover/mop the house to dusting, prepping dinner, throwing clothes in the washing basket or arranging toys in their boxes – it’s all a gun game
4. They dance like none other – it’s just those moves that kill me. I love them and would never ever get enough of it
5. They are starting to have preferences on clothes. books, TV shows and there is nothing more beautiful than watching them enjoy these little things
6. They learn how to get dressed and although it seems so difficult for them it’s a challenge and it’s such fun to watch – especially when my daughter is trying to put her trousers around her arms
7. The smallest things are so exciting for them – watching the washing machine spin, pushing a stroller, jumping in a ball pit or just switching the light on and off a million times
8. Every day brings something new in your and their life – new words, mastering the teeth brushing, jumping from the sofa, climbing out of their bed (still scared of this one), managing to put their shoes on correctly – they are achievements so it’s needless to say a two year old is a champion
9. They have the amazing capacity of going from adorable to full on grumpy in a matter of seconds and back as well
10. They have so much energy and I can’t help but be jealous here. I mean my daughter wakes me up around 7 am every morning and when she goes bed I feel my eyes closing and am completely exhausted – she can still talk and sing to her toys for another two hours before actually falling asleep
11. The way they pronounce words is absolutely hilarious and some embarrassing but nevertheless funny – “wee wee pants” are her nappies, tish-me as in tissues, buy buy as in birdie birdie and the one I still love coming from my daughter is “Peppa” instead of mummy. Mind you she calls her dummy – how do you think? – MUMMY, of course. Why not?
12. They are just funny, they can make you laugh with tears and they don’t make any efforts on doing it
13. They are happy with the simplest of things – my daughter is happily playing with an empty box for hours and she never complains she is bored; she is extremely entertained by few lego blocks or a book that she would pretend to read a million times
14. They are copycats – they can copy dance moves, any of your daily activities – putting makeup on, painting your nails, wearing a handbag or repeating swear words better than any other words they hear on daily basis – it’s all a copy paste activity and the thing is they are so cute when they do it
15. Their memory is absolutely incredible – my daughter can easily show you where I keep biscuits in the house, she can point and shout “cookies” in front of every M&S store we ever entered and purchased cookies from; she remembers where she dropped a biscuit last week although she won’t definitely find anymore (than she starts crying asking for that particular biscuit)
16. The don’t know fear – one second unsupervised and Ruby will jump off the sofa or kitchen chair like it’s the easiest thing in the world, she would try climbing up a wall along with adults and she can every small thing in her mouth without being scared of choking (unlike me who am close to having a heart attack)
17. The way they try to jump (while listening to the bunny song) is undescribable and incredibly hilarious and unique
18. They are true adventurers discovering something new every day
19. They have the capacity of understanding all you say and most of the times actually listening to you
20. Their guilty face is so adorable that actually calms you down on the spot

So, raising a two year old is beautiful and a bliss. It’s heart melting and it’s full of pride and joy. It’s just happiness. It makes me feel ten years younger