Tackling transition with toddlers

Yeah! I used alliteration. This is big for me because I am a remarkably uncreative person and when I do something even slightly right brained I am to be commended. Yeah me! Onto the topic for the day: My rotten toddler. I have remarked in recent posts that Manther is ill behaved as of late and this is not an exaggeration. She was a pretty easy-going kid and now she is very uncooperative. This is not shocking because she is nearly 2, but I am disturbed by one aspect of this problem. Transitions are very difficult and I found a website that gave some suggestions for how to maneuver transitions in daily activites. The thing that is bothering me is that Manther freaks out just as much when her environment changes slightly as she does when she is asked to stop playing and eat lunch. On Wednesday, a table was removed from her daycare room and she could barely go on with her day. Yesterday the daycare gym and hallways were all festive and rearranged for 'penguin day'. She was a nervous wreck. She insisted on wearing her shoes all day, refused to eat or sleep, and spent most of the day sitting in the stroller peering suspiciously at everyone. I see other 2 year olds in her room and I am not noticing this OCD/paranoid behavior with them and I am getting concerned. I was a high anxiety kid and I was hoping that Manther had gotten some of the 'relaxed' genes from Dad. I think my hopes are futile. I am going to incorporate some of the tactics for easing transitions and hopefully the poor reaction to changes in the environment will even out.
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family parenting mom kids parents