Mild and wild

Make sure you are taking care of yourself. When I'm impatient or unreasonably grouchy or frustrated I ask myself if I am thirsty, hungry, or tired, and if I am one or more of those, then I take care of that need as soon as possible.

Be proactive. Don't wait for a misbehvior or a problem to occur. Do what you can to prevent and redirect as much as possible.

Pick your battles. Let the little things go.

Be consistant. Routine and good transitions are important for two year olds and people with ADD.

YES @ the advice above. I'd also recommend giving yourself a 'time out' to cool down. Being busy, sometimes things just flow from one thing to the next with no breaks in between. It's easier to get strung out and impulsive with your reactions that way. Taking time, even for a moment, to decompress can make a difference. Take deep breaths and remember that some things, they may not have control over yet. Take a nice bath, get your nails done, get a massage or take a walk by yourself while a trusted adult watches the kids. Doing things once in awhile to 'treat' yourself can be helpful, too. Take care.

We have an 11 year old who has ADD in our youth program during the school year and is also part of our summer youth program for 5 hours a day once a week. Her mother told me recently that her daughter loves our youth programs that she is involved with and thanks God for that because if she did not, she would force her to go just to give her a break...meaning the Mom. This break from the 11 year old makes dealing with the 2 yr old easier. During the school year we meet on Fridays with our youth program directly after school. This pre-teen will not play sports because they cannot keep focused long enough to play in one position and she struggles with homework. I can relate with that one.

So bottom line is if your daughter is not involved with a youth program in a local church, give it a shot. See if it is something she will fall in love with. This will you a break and if the youth program starts at age 5 like ours does, then in a few years you will have both of them out of the house giving you a break for a few hours each day. So you will have a chance to totally relax and your mind will be able to totally unwind.

Our church runs an Awana Youth Program and it currently goes from grades k-6. However, there are some programs around the country that start at age 2 and go through grade 12. You can check to see if there is one in your area at this link:
http://awana.org/churches-and-organizations
About half way down the page in a yellow box on the right hand side is where you enter your zip code to find the closest Awana Youth Program for anybody interested