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Home › Articles › Multiples › Preparing for the Toddler Years

Preparing for the Toddler Years

8 Truths About Parenting Multiple Toddlers

By Elizabeth Lyons

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There is a reason the term "The Terrible Twos" has gained a lot of notoriety. It's a time during which toddlers learn a great deal, which is exciting to watch. It's also a time when you will be challenged almost constantly in terms of your ability to be patient and calm and possibly not to shout "Shut up!" at the top of your lungs as everyone vies for your attention simultaneously for the sixth hour in a row.

It will be critical to your sanity during this time to have a hobby you enjoy and can lose yourself in as often as necessary. Older pastimes such as knitting, quilting, crocheting and sewing are once again attracting young moms. Park districts as well as retail stores specializing in these pastimes often offer reasonably-priced courses in the evenings or on weekends if you are a beginner. It's a great way to get out, meet other women and work on a project that has an end date in sight and doesn't scream at you as you work on it. Other options: yoga, photography or cake decorating. Park districts almost always offer interesting courses for beginners at great rates. Check out their offerings list for next session!

8. It's Going to Be Messy
Toddlers have little to no need for order and cleanliness. Find me a toddler's room that is cleaned by him or her on a weekly basis and, well, I'm moving in with you for a week to absorb your strategy. Play-Doh® will end up on the floor (but hopefully not in the carpet); crayon will end up on walls (buy the washable kind); sippy cups will spill (even though the manufacturer claims they are spill-proof); and more urine will likely hit the floor than the cute little potty bowl. I know without a doubt that I could clean all day, every day, and be able to start all over again once I was finished.

Keep the following running through your head: "I have toddlers. The house is going to be messy. It won't last forever." If it gets to a point that is intolerable to you, hire a cleaning service to come every two weeks to at least clean bathrooms, dust and vacuum. Those are the things you probably won't get to after you've wiped up the Play-Doh®, crayon, spilled milk and urine (over and over again). Believe me, the money is worth it. After all, they say a cluttered house creates a cluttered mind. I don't know about you, but if my mind gets any more cluttered than it is already, I'll turn into someone else.

Occasionally, even amidst the endless tossing of toys, demands for one more bedtime song and orders to retrieve a blue plate instead of an orange one, I can understand the toddler mindset. After all, who wouldn't make the most of an opportunity to draw with reckless abandon on walls, decide the Monsters, Inc.


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