Life with a Toddler
Scenario One:
You hear your precious little love wake up in the other room. You think "what a beautiful day!", as you look out the window and see the sun shining as you walk to your child's bedroom. You open the door, say "Good morning my sweet baby!" and see him return a little sleepy smile. You walk over to the windows, draw open the curtains to let some light in, then go over to greet your little one again. He seems like he's in a great mood--score!! He proceeds to tell you all about the loveys in his crib, with his own little toddler language and you sit there soaking it in for a little bit. Then you say "Ok, baby, it's time to go and change your diaper".THAT is when all hell breaks loose. Your sweet child has suddenly turned into a tiny UFC fighter, with incredible aim for the most painful spots, through his screeching and irrational crying. You think to yourself 'I hope this is not how the rest of the day is going to go' as you wrestle him into a new diaper and a fresh outfit. Luckily you've chosen the right shirt/pant combo for the day and now you have your sweet little boy back and you even get a hug before you set him down to be on his way. Whew! hopefully that's all he has in him today.
Scenario Two:
You need to take a trip to the store. You pack a snack and a drink for your little then put his coat on. he doesn't fight you in the car seat this time (winning!), buckle him in, give him his books and you're off to the store. When you get there, he realizes you're at the store with the red 'ball balls' as he refers to them (win number 2!) You get in the store, put him in the cart, take his coat off and hand him his snack. He starts to eat his snack and is content so you begin your shopping trip. After the 5th bite, your child no longer wants his snack so he chucks it on the floor. Ok, this isn't a huge deal, you have definitely dealt with worse. While you're picking up the snack, he suddenly notices something that he needs right now on the other side of the store. You stop and think about the best choice of words to let him know that he's not getting that $300 adult bicycle today. "Sweetheart, you have your tricycle at home, we can go look at the bike, but we aren't taking it home today" Wrong choice of words. You frantically run through the store gathering all the things on your list, avoiding all the toy aisles, and anywhere that has crayons on display (Damn you end caps!), all while your child loses their mind. You make it through checkout where he's distracted long enough for you to pay. Then he suddenly remembers he's very angry again-cue all the judgmental stares as you walk out of the store. You pass the red "ball balls" again but you didn't let him get out of the cart to see them up close today, cue hysterics. Get to the car, unload the cart. You tell him you're going to go home now and have Peanut butter and jelly (his favorite). This seems to keep him happy for a moment. This time he fights you in the car, he absolutely needs that book, AND that torn up magazine from christmas that you attempted to recycle last week without him knowing, (but he's an actual eagle and can spot anything so now its back in the car), RIGHT now. You finally get him in and vow you'll never bring him back to the store ever again...Then you realize on the way home that you forgot diapers....maybe you'll go to a different store tomorrow.
Sound familiar yet?! I bet it does. Here's one more for you
Scenario Three:
You're sitting on the floor with your little, reading one of his favorite books. He's been a little behind on language, but that's ok, you've been working on it with him, and he's showing a little progress which is better than none! You ask questions like; "where's the fire truck?, "can you find the beach ball?" "where's the sun?" He points to all of these like he normally does, but when he points to the sun, he follows it with his own version of saying "Yellow!". You can't believe it! He's never said it before! You immediately tear up, ask him to repeat it over and over and shower him with hugs and praise. He moves on to the next book and begins to 'read' that one on his own. This gives you a moment to think about how far hes come, how big he's grown, how much he's learned and how proud you are of him! Tears are now flowing down your face and he happens to notice. He gets up, walks over to you and gives you a giant hug without prompting. You realize how lucky you are to have this little human in your life.
Toddlers may not be the most pleasant to be around all the time, but they sure do know how to tug at those heart strings, and remind you that this stage is only temporary. I know soon there will be a day that I remember these days, and admit that I miss it!
Until then please do me a favor and pray that I actually make it to that day!!!
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