Treacherous Two's

Before I became a mom I always heard people speak of the 'terrible two's'. Then, when we would go to the grocery store and see a child acting absolutely terrible we would blame the terrible twos. I always thought 'wow! They should correct their kids!' And 'holy cow. Just spank them and correct them' but now? I'm eating my words! Terrible twos are no joke and they certainly aren't for the faint of heart. Since our girl is 2 years and 10-ish days old they decided now would be a perfect time to show me what they got. Lexi is a very needy baby in general so, just like any other child she has daily tantrums. Yesterday, we went to Bass Pro and SAMs and oh my goodness, it was AWFUL! We were 'those' people- and we all know what people I am talking about. Lexi screamed and hollered and kicked and punched and hit and you name it. Nothing we did helped! Spanking her behind? Thank you cloth diapers for making that so ineffective, haha! Threatening, have you ever threatened a two year old? We even resorted to drastic measures- bribery. And that didn't even seem to work. By the time we left SAMs we were all exhausted. So now I am on a mission to find an effective way to correct and reason with my crazy two year old. Because I refuse to be one of 'those' parents every single trip somewhere. If all else fails? I'll hide out at my house until she turns eighteen! Even in our worst days, (this definitely wasn't) I am so very grateful for every single day with her. Praying for everyone involved with the Sandy Hook shootings- parents, children, officers, school officials, and Everyone else! My heart breaks for these people.