In a Sweet Spot????

How funny that you say this. I'm in a "sweet spot", too.
Child gaining independence, listening etc.
I am not questioning it. Just enjoying the ride.
Having fun w/my youngest & appreciating a good relationship with my
husband even if we are constantly trying to be undermined by someone.
We BOTH are aware and he's not happy about that person's interference.
All in all, life is in a good spot. I'm just going to smile through it and
appreciate it!

We sort of skipped over the terrible twos.
But then the terrible threes came in late with a vengeance.
It's manageable if you stay aware of how tired/hungry they are.
We didn't have a lot of meltdowns but the few we had were enough.
Enjoy the sweet spot it while it lasts!

I think everyone's experience is different. Honestly my kids were pretty sweet and easy throughout the toddler, preschool and early elementary years. Sure we had some bumps along the way and of course some days were hard, but overall they were compliant and eager to please and not prone to fits.
I guess that's why puberty was so hard for me, I was NOT prepared for the level of moodiness, surliness and general opposition at every turn.
So enjoy, maybe you have several years of general sweetness before the hormonal monster raises it's ugly head!

I don't know if I am in a sweat spot so much as I have understood my kids better.
My first son has always been easy so he is out of the equation. lol
My second son took me a while to figure out then when he is over tired or hungry he turns into a bear. So I do my best to understand when he is acting out WHY he is doing so and then fix it. That's not to say that every time he is acting out there is a good reason! sometimes he is just misbehaving.
My daughter is only 2 1/2 and our first year together was awful. She was so so so so hard. She is still difficult, but I have learned what makes HER tick too!
So maybe it's not our kids that are behaving better but as parents WE are better!!
L.

There are a lot of sweet spots along the way to them growing up into adults. Enjoy this one, however long it lasts, because it is a sweet spot, not the entire rest of their childhood. ;)

It will be over at some point, and your kid will drive you nuts again for a period, and then you'll eventually have another sweet spot. And the cycle will continue. I suspect even into adulthood as you become a grandparent.

I have a saying.... it goes like this.

For every day you relax about your kid's behavior they pay you back double as a tween.

:-)

I have found that it's either 2 or 3 that's bad, but typically not both. I think, as you say, because we get to know our kids better and we change OUR behavior... which impacts the behavior of the kid.

I know I promoted more of the same behaviors by just always trying to see her perspective. I knew I would have to be flexible and I always tried to remember what my objective was.... win the war not the battle mentality.

Shhh, I'm still in it. Mine will be three years old in January, and we've had no drama. It's been a fun ride, and I don't want anyone to remind him that he is "supposed to be" a terror.

I'm so happy to hear this!! Your posts about your DS are full of love, and I remember your post about stress with your DH so I'm glad things are going well with him too.

Your DS sounds like a little Sweet Spot himself!

Wishing you lots of fun and love going forward!

I thought we got lucky.
The 2s? Easy peasy.
The 3s? Not so much.

I don't think it's as much a "sweet spot" as a little period between the rough spots.

It's the PARENTS that find out "this worked at 3, but not gonna cut it at 5, etc. it's about being tuned into your kid/a and learning to loosen this, tighten that, eliminate this, provide that. I think it only lasts about 30 years though! Lol

We had peaceful twos and rollicking, fretful threes. That said~

Just finished a sweet spot, rolling into a grumpy "its not fair" six and a half year old spot. Those moments of peace come when they come-- it's like life gives us a little breather for a few months so we don't sell them all to the circus for peanuts.

Oh, and BTW, there's really no promoting the good behavior tricks. They just meander between in-sych with themselves, 'alls right in the world' and frustration at new challenges and 'everything is bad'. It just depends on the phase and whatever other transitions they are going through.

Yes. Sweet spots are common/typical. We found that we had the most trouble at the 6-month intervals and then slightly fewer issues at the year intervals. In between these were the sweet spots. Enjoy them! They can be somewhat elusive, but they also show us that there is light at the end of each tunnel.

Careful, you'll jinx yourself.

Enjoy every minute, the sweet spots come and then poof they're gone!

Someone once said to me, these sweet spots come right around the year age marks, and the 1/2 marks are rough. Ie. 1 is a sweet spot, 18 mos is rough, around 2 is good again, around 2 and 1/2 they play the 2 yr. old role well etc.... it seems rather true!

I hate to say it, but wait until he's 3.5. :-) My son was so easy until this age. For each kid it's different, but they are very agreeable around their bdays. My son will be 4 in December, I'm counting down!

But in any case, yes, half years up until bdays is when behavior falls apart, and then a big developmental leap occurs. For more information on this, see Dr Ames and her books, your one year old, your two year old, etc.

I think this is a sweet post about sweet spots!!

I do remember that time well, but in general, I get along well with my kids. Even my 14 year old teenager, I've had no dramatic issues with :) - yet.

Just wanted to say I'm so happy for you, on many fronts! :)

You might not have any problems with him until he's a teenager. I didn't really have much trouble with my DS when he was little. I think he had like a total of 2 temper tantrums, which was when he was 15 mo. I just left him stay in his play pen by himself until he stopped. Teenager...going through that now. He's not too bad, just quick to anger. Some things are actually valid to be angry about, others are small stuff. I've learned to just walk way when he's upset, because it's usually caused from being stress out. Teenagers have more to be stressed out about than we realize. I remember one time I was dropping him off and said, "Have a good day." He went up to my window and yelled, "Don't tell me what to do!" Talk about embarrassing. All the parents looked. I just strugged and said, "I think he's just teasing me...We do that a lot." Which we used to pretend to argue at home, until DH thought we were serious.

What Mamazita said, exactly, and I just have to copy and paste part of her response because it's so spot on:

"I was NOT prepared for the level of moodiness, surliness and general opposition at every turn." That pretty much covers the teen years. (There are a few rare exceptions.)

Have fun!