Like all working Mom’s, I have a huge load to pull with juggling my full time day job with my full time life job of motherhood. With that responsibility, I also get the privilege of getting out of the house and gaining a little perspective on my situation when work offers some down time. Hence, my reflection on life with toddlers…
It’s my observation that people are either all about the “baby phase” or all about the “toddler phase”. I fall into the latter. Tiny babies are adorable and all but the lay-there-and-be-cute thing gets old, quick. Toddlers on the other hand…now that is what I call FUN! Admittedly, there are those times that make you want to pull your hair out and chug wine straight from the bottle but it’s definitely interesting and much more fast paced once they are on the move.
I’m currently living with a threenager and a brand new toddler. The 3’s are quirky little stage that sneaks up on you. Everyone warns about the two’s, you make it through that and the three’s just smack you in the face like a ton of bricks! The sass and the meltdowns and the attitude and the whining just comes at you in epic proportions.
The one year old, oh yes, the new toddler. They are just learning how to make a ton of noise and nothing is more fun than making the biggest mess on the planet. Surprisingly, this is when they start to get a little bit of an opinion but they don’t have words so, redirection is a little easier. However, if they are set on something and you can’t seem to understand them…you’re in a world of hurt.
This is what went down recently to spur this mommy rant. The little dude decided that he wanted into a cabinet that I had determined was off limits. The negotiations started out tame, “no , no Jackson. Mama says no”. This progressed to a minor power struggle which ended with me getting bit (yes, he bit me!) and the little dude in tears of frustration. This scuffle parlayed into an equal test of wills, moments later, with my older toddler about turning the TV off. At this point it dawned on me that “communication” as I know it has ceased to exist in my household.
This was further confirmed while I changed a baby diaper and heard “can I play Playdoh?” yelled from the other room. My retort, “no Ma’am, we are getting ready for bed”. I continue to hear very familiar noises of Playdoh “tools” being laid out and offer up a warning shot, “no Playdoh, it’s bedtime”, only to come out and see every Playdoh utensil sprawled out on her play table. Clearly, I must speak another language or in a decibel that can’t be heard by small children or dogs.
While getting them both ready for bed, I start pulling out jammies for both kids and realize they have outgrown almost everything they have. Earlier that morning, it became clear that new shoes will also be on the shopping list coming up. It’s getting hard to keep these two clothed while retaining any semblance of a paycheck…sigh.
Post bedtime, I almost always watch TV with my husband and play on Pinterest. It’s both fun and depressing because so many of these Pinterest activities and mommy blog suggestions seem like amazingly good ideas if I had the time or cooperation from my children. But I feel like it’s a place where I can sort and dream about all the fantastic things I could do and occasionally it inspires something great. It’s a must do for the toddler Mom because it can be done in the wee hours of the morning with coffee in hand or late at night with glass of wine…both necessary staples in the life of toddler Moms! Good luck surviving to all you fellow toddler Mommies out there. Send me your best typical toddler moment stories!
