I am about to lose my mind. My sweet little Charlie is at the height of his terrible twos. He is so adorable with his bleach blonde hair and his bright smile but just listen to what has happened already today:

Wake up this morning to a box of Kix in my face because he wants me to poor cereal into a baggie for him, which he had climbed the counters for to retrieve for himself. I know I should have gotten up, because I heard him in the kitchen but I was just too tired.

Emptied said box of Kix on the living floor and was stomping on them and squiching them.

Emptied a bag of Cheetos on living room floor.

Jumped off the cat condo, hurt his bottom.

Kid you not, got into a fist fight with a 4 year at the park and has a black eye. Thank goodness he didn't start it, but nonetheless.

Took his shoes off in the grocery store, had to find them...ran foot over with the cart.

Spilled his happy meal all over the car.

And right now is finally napping...but Lord help me when he wakes up.

Yesterday he got hit in the face with a swing at the park, and last night he overflowed the toilet by unrolling a roll of toilet paper in it.

I also have a 3 and half year old named Jack, who never did anything like this and is quite an angel to have around...I don't know what went wrong with Charlie. He doesn't mean to get into this much trouble, but he's just like curious george.

Anyone else in the same boat???

I am already looking back on the morning and am laughing, but sometimes its just to much for one person to handle.

Perhaps you could sleep while he's sleeping so that you're well rested to supervise him when he's awake. (I read your "trying to catch up on sleep" post about Black Friday shopping!)

I so hear you Mine is turning 2 in 3 weeks and I think his terrible two's started....6 months ago His big thing right now screaming. at the TOP of his lungs. And do you know that look they get, when they know they are not supposed to touch the tv/garbage/dog poop/put the phone in the toilet/ etc? He looks right at me and then does it and laughs. Time-outs are a waste. We don't spank. I think I have repeated the same 'don't scream/use your words please/listen to mommy about a thousand times in the last month. And the other thing lately is if I even take a SECOND to do something that doesn't involve him (go to the bathroom/look at a magazine/answer the phone) /he does something bad just to get my attention. Like, can't you just say Mommy? Help please? Hug? Augughghgh! And to boot, it is so hard to get him down for a nap lately. And then he only sleeps for 45 mins. And bedtime??!? Well, that is a whole other story. Slept like an angel for the first year and a half of his life. Now...well, I better stop now before I start to cry But then he does something so sweet or looks ridiculously adorable wearing my shoes or a box on his head or something and I just have to smile. The best is when he says I wuv you mummy in his sweet little toddler voice.

I hear the terrible two's don't last forever

Yes, sometimes you just have to LAUGH

Different kids need different things. It sounds like you got lucky with your first, and now you need a plan to manage Charlie. He's probably really smart and that's why he's so hard to keep up with.

First, I'm assuming his bedroom is babyproofed, so put a doorknob cover on the inside of his bedroom door. When you go to sleep for the night, close his door. Then if he wakes up before you, he'll be in his room until you come to get him. If he's toilet trained already, that won't work, but if you're not at that point with him yet, it's a great solution.

Remember, if Charlie's big enough to climb up on the counters, he's big enough to turn on the stove, to drop dishes out of the cabinets and then climb down into a pile of glass shards, to climb in the fridge, to open the front door and leave, etc...when he's awake, you're going to have to be awake, or have him contained safely somewhere. Otherwise he's going to get hurt.

A schedule would be a great thing for him. If the same thing happens at the same time every day, he'll get used to a pattern and he'll behave better. Sometimes a schedule is a lot of work for the mom...for example, it might be more convenient to give him a happy meal in the car than to sit down and eat lunch with him, but he'll eat better with you sitting there looking at him (and your car will stay cleaner). A schedule will also help when it's time for school...you don't want him to be the little boy who runs wild and cries all day in kindergarten (and there's always one) because he's never had to follow a schedule before.

I would avoid the park for a few days...it sounds like it's too hard to watch both boys at the same time. Maybe you should wait until the weekend and take your husband with you, so you can each watch one kid.

Please, don't think I'm criticizing everything you're doing as a mom. I'm not. I've got one of those super-creative, smart, into-everything, climbs-like-a-monkey kids. We had our share of near misses and dangerous problems, like the time when she was two and she climbed the counter and drank a bottle of rum extract (she was drunk for a couple of hours, but poison control said she'd be okay, and she was) or the time she let the maintainence man in and he repaired the kitchen sink...while I was on the toilet. And the time when flat-panel monitors were still really expensive, and she scribbled all over mine with a permanent marker. I could go on and on...but we figured out that both of us working, just working opposite shifts, was not working for our family, and with some careful budgeting and deciding that we never need another new car , I quit my job and devoted all my energy to keeping up with her. Fortunately, she survived the messy years, and now she's old enough for her brain to keep up with her body

I can relate. My first son was so easy. He never really got into anything and if he did, all I had to do was explain to him why he couldn't do whatever it was and he would never do it again. However my second was a whole different breed of kid. He got into everything, destroyed so many things and I am pretty sure that he is incapable of walking, he runs, jumps, climbs and skips. I have had two more children since him and I have discovered that most kids are more like my second child than my first.

The only thing that sounds unusual for a child his age is the black eye from the fight, and you said he didn't start it.

If he gets up on counters in the kitchen, you'll need to baby-gate him out.
Sometimes you need to laugh or scream.

Gawwwwd! I read your post and thought, "This is why mommy drinks when you go to bed." LOL

Just kidding. It makes me frustrated and tired just reading it. I would make him help clean it up and then I'd start thinking of things he could do to keep him busy. It sounds like he needs his energy channeled into something that's not mischievious. Put him in charge of cleaning carpet lint or something.

Rest assured that he is normal! Very Very normal. I was laughing all over the place while reading it and thinking Thank GAWD my youngest is 18!!

Here is a thread with a pic of my 2 yr old grandson who found mommy's box of powdered sugar. It is AMAZING how far a 1 lb box of p.sugar will spread@!!
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-627943-grandson.html

Too cute, Debi.

We had some friends whose little one would smear Crisco all over the cabinets and the floor, then dump granulated sugar on top of it all while the mommy was sleeping late.

Several times the police would wake her up banging on her door because he would walk the neighborhood naked!

I'd never seen that thread before, Debi. Adorable
I have a picture to add...
(that's Mommy's elbow on the right).

7yyrt: Do you have a story to add with that photo? (or does the caption say it all?)

LOL
He had been watching Grandpa and Grandma make cookies earlier and I guess he wanted to make some too.

Needless to say, I no longer use the flip tops on the canisters. All have been traded for screw tops... of course, he now is trying to figure out how to open those!

Boy do I remember the terrible twos. Ugh. To the OP, you didn't say what disciplinary measures, if any you are taking. I remember being ready to pull my own hair out when my kids were pushing the limits. This is something I did not do, didn't even hear about it till the kiddos were much older, but I've seen it in action, and it WORKS. When your adorable little cherub is acting up, get down at eye level with him, and let him know in no uncertain terms that his behavior is unacceptable. He then gets 2 minutes (one minute for each year) in the time out chair (or corner, or whatever). Make sure he knows why he's going there. If he gets up before the 2 minutes, he goes back until he stays there for the full 2 minutes. It may take a lot of will power on your part, but stick with it and he will get it. When he has successfully completed the time out, hugs, kisses and "I love yous" all around. The little ones don't like time out, especially if there's a sibling that isn't being punished. He will learn to strive for the positive attention instead of the negative, and you will all be much happier.

Good luck!!

Sounds like a combination of terrible twos, discipline and supervision issues.
Check out the book 1-2-3 Magic

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1889140430/?tag=cakecentral-20

Glad to see that he is normal...LOL. My sister just had a baby several weeks ago and I can't wait until she goes through the terrible twos.

I could put him in an empty room with nothing and he could still find a way to make a mess.

Luckily nothing was spilled today...and he was just adorable at story time. Some good days and some bad.