Who knew someone so tiny could have so many opinions about absolutely everything?

Have you ever spent a good amount of time with a kid? I don’t mean babysitting once a month, or watching your little cousin from time to time. I’m talking about living with one. I’m sure you have, if you’re a parent or the older sibling, which is basically a second parent sometimes. In my personal case, I’m the older sister of three: I’m 13 months apart from one of them, and 10 years from the other. So yeah, I basically raised my younger sister. Don’t get me wrong, I love that little girl… well, she’s not that little anymore, to be honest. She’s turning 17 next year, so now I’m dealing with the weird face of adolescence. Which is a breeze compared to what her toddler years were.

When my little sister was born, I was excited. I wanted to play with her, dress her, feed her… and basically turned her into my real-life doll. My mom appreciated the help, so during her first months and years, I was everything to her. Whenever I came home from school, the only thing that I wanted to do was spend time with the baby. So I’d put her inside her stroller, and we would go for little walks around the block (with my parents watching, of course), and everything was laughs and giggles, until the terrible twos came around.

Oh boy… It’s crazy to see how that little girl became a messy and noisy kid in a matter of months! I didn’t think that was even possible!

Now, everything she once liked was a no-no for her. No more walks, no more playing time with big sis, no more music, nothing. Every single thing was a reason for a meltdown or a tantrum. Her new hobby was messing the house around: sticking her hands inside a pot, spilling water from the faucet, putting stickers on the dog, and throwing things off the table. Yes, even heavy things. I remember that my mom and I were going crazy with this girl, and we didn’t have enough eyes to watch her.

It’s true what they say about the terrible twos. A 2022 study found that tantrums tend to become more frequent between the ages of one and two. So, my little sister turning into the most annoying kid ever wasn’t something that only happened to us: it’s the most common thing in childhood, although back in those days, it felt very personal.

If you ask me now, I’m not sure what we did to cope with that behaviour. Mainly, you just have to live one day at a time. Or do what works best for your kid. If you’re a parent and you start to see the beginning of that phase, let me tell you, you’re doing the best you can. There’s no book on how to be a parent, so it’s basically trial and error. The good thing is that this will pass… nothing is forever!