“And though she be but little, she is fierce,” so wrote Shakespeare when describing Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but he may as well have written it about the typical two year old girl. Full of determination, and incredibly strong-willed, two year olds are forces to be reckoned with. And, more often than not, when those two year olds are girls, that force sparkles! If you have a two year old girl then perhaps you can relate:
Everything Is Pink
You swore blind that you would raise your daughter to question gender stereotypes. It was easy when she was a baby. You dressed her in cute, gender neutral clothes and felt smug when you saw other babies dressed in layer upon layer of pink frills. However, there was no avoiding the pervasive pink phenomena.
First, grandparents took a stand against your gender-neutral style and deliberately bought the pinkest, frilliest items they could find. And, your daughter loved them. Then, your daughter turned two, began to speak, and started voicing an opinion on things, including on what she considers to be acceptable clothing. Now she wears a pink tutu, sparkly fairy wings, and pink sandals just to go to Sainsburys.
Peppa Reigns Supreme
Image Credit: tiumentseva / bigstockphoto.com
At two, there is no escaping Peppa Pig. Along with the cartoon there are books, play sets, cuddly toys, stickers, magazines, clothes, even a theme park. So, even if you have been a saint and refused all screen time up to this point, there is no doubt that your child will still be aware of the plump pig piglet with the weirdly distorted eye placement. You will celebrate Peppa’s successes, cheer Mummy Pig’s sarcastic wit, and find yourself awake at night worrying about the strain Miss Rabbit must be facing with all her job roles.
You Spend A Small Fortune On Hair Clips
At two, your daughter’s hair will be getting quite long, and yet she still probably holds onto those adorable baby curls. The combination is an uncontrollable mop that she’s forever pushing out of her face. The answer, of course, lies in hair clips. However, it doesn’t matter how well you put the bloody things in, they eventually work their way out and disappear into the ether, along with odd socks, pens, and that memory stick with all your important documents backed up. A set might cost just a couple of pounds, but when you have to buy them once a week it soon adds up.
You Have More Wands Than Ollivander’s Wand Shop
There’s the light up wand that you bought at the fireworks display to stave off a temper tantrum. There’s the Frozen themed wand that makes a really, really, loud noise that a friend “kindly” donated to you the moment their own child had finished playing with it. There’s the wand that came with the Peppa Pig magazine. There’s the second wand that came with another Peppa Pig magazine.
There is the butterfly wand she made at childcare. There’s the spinning, light up wand that you foolishly thought would make a nice stocking filler, only for it to be repeatedly smashed against the dining table on Christmas day resulting in cracked plastic and yet another tantrum. Just be aware that searching for “wand toy” on Amazon can lead to some questionable results.
You Are Aware Of Just How Weak-Willed You Are
Parenting a toddler can often be all about who has the strongest will power. Spoiler alert, it isn’t you. Your two year old has no concept of time, so spending an hour repeatedly refusing to wear wellies instead of sandals in January isn’t an issue for her. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. And, if stamping her feet and shouting “no” doesn’t work, then she will resort to her finest trick. The bottom lip will come out, the eyes will fill with tears, and she will wail “Mummeeeee” with her best Oscar worthy performance until you have no choice but to obey.
