Around the time my toddler turned 2, I began to hear a lot of comments about “the terrible twos.” A phrase I had heard long before, but didn’t fully understand until become a parent myself. I recall my God child going through that age and it being pretty rough, and so it went with my own child. As we started to embark on the journey that is the infamous age of 2, I began to reflect on the WHY behind the phrase.

Charlie turned 18 months this week and I wanted to share some of the insights I’ve gained since becoming a mama with 2 under 3.

In its essence, these parenting styles encourage us to humanize our children by validating their emotions and experiences through understanding, empathy, and respect, while also validating that the adult also has their own emotions and experiences. The practice of parenting with intention empowers us to pause, acknowledge that we too struggle as adults during challenging moments that feel uncomfortable, so that we can better show up for ourselves and our kids.

It was amazing to see how much my mindset, mood, and even my body transformed as I was less focused on a specific goal and more focused on being intentional in what I was able to do at this moment in time. If you’ve ever wondered about why setting intentions are so great or how they’re different from setting a goal, I invite you to read on!

When I started my breastfeeding journey with my first, I didn’t know how hard it would be. How long nights would lead to even more stressful days filled with self-doubt and uncertainty. How it would cause me to question my motherhood and my ability to nourish my baby—something I thought would come naturally and with ease.

I thought when I became a mother I would let it consume me and I would be content with that. Coming from a traditional and religious household, I thought that becoming a mother meant I would find myself in that role and that it was the only thing that would define me.