Juna, My Little Teenager Or Getting Through The Twos

About four months ago, at about 26 months, my Juna hit the "terrible" twos, or more appropriately, the extremely challenging and difficult, yet totally amazing, awe-inspiring twos.  I don't remember being two myself, but having been a teenager and a teacher, I'll venture to guess that this year is much like having a new teenager... the struggling for independence, inability to communicate frustrations without screaming, the need for silent, yet intense support and understanding are most intense at these two stages of life.  However, for Juna this is all new, she has neither the skills or experience that a teen has, although they often resort back to babyhood and are unable to draw from that skill pool or rely on previous experience.  This is not surprising, considering these are the two stages when the most brain development occurs.

And here is my sweet child, who at 24 and 25 months still had me crossing my fingers that the sweetness would last and we wouldn't fall into the depths of "terrible two-dom."  Here we are.  Trying to figure this out together, every hour of every day.  She has cried... and does several times a day (mostly when dressing herself... erg! the worst part of our day).  I have cried.  It is not a wonder that I happened to start counseling after Juna turned 2.  I highly recommend it for mothers of 2 year olds.   Juna and I have occasionally cried together.  I have spent a lot of time worrying that I am ruining her for life, or destroying the complete trust that she has in me, or wrecking our close relationship.  But like her, I've never done this before, and it's the hardest "job" I've ever had... although getting though my teenage years is a close second.