The Terrible Two's
Olivia will be two in October. She's really starting to explore, experiment and communicate her feelings.
 Earlier this week, she explored the inside of the toilet bowl. Yesterday, she experimented with an entire bottle of cinnamon all over the kitchen. Today, she communicated that she wanted to watch tv instead of mommy doing yoga so she threw a big frickin' toy at my head while I was in downward facing dog pose.

When I consulted my mother this afternoon she said "Yeah, they don't call it the terrible two's for no reason!"

After much thinking and trying to determine the best course of action, I decided that she needs a thorough beating. to be re-directed to interesting activities that appeal to her need to explore and get a little messy. I'm going to try to create a better environment for curious little people and plan activities to encourage exploring and experimentation without destroying the house or murdering their mother.


I always liked the idea of the Montessori method of learning. Although my kids won't attend pre-school, there's no reason why we can't do some Montessori pre-school activities and lessons at home! The Montessori method encourages a child to have freedom and independence while learning through all five senses, which I think will be excellent for a two year old. It involves a lot of practical life skills (like making a sandwich, cleaning up your own messes, watering plants, etc) and Olivia already loves to help unload the dishwasher so I think things like this will be right up her alley!




 Today, my mission is to create a good space to learn and play in. A toy box isn't a good way to store her things because everything ends up at the bottom of the box and she has to dump it all out to find what she wants. Thoughout the week, we'll be doing craft projects, counting and shapes, practical life skills and science experiments. Here are some of the spaces and ideas that I'm totally in love with, thanks to Pinterest.

 There are links to the how-to's on my Stay at Home Montessori board