No human being, aside from the toddler, is as equally needy as they are independent. These tiny little dictators rule your world from morning until night with their odd tantrums, their puzzling requirements and their Jedi mind tricks. If this phase wasn't a fairly short stint between "baby" and "school-aged kid", parents everywhere would be spending some time in the psych ward.
The toddler is a special kind of special. One minute they are all smiles and the next they are throwing themselves on the ground because it was their turn to put the stickers on the happy meal toy. Oh yeah, that totally happened just the other day. Or they are soooooo thirsty for that cup of milk that they must have it NOW! And then you get it for them, so as to avoid a meltdown and shocker, they don't want it anymore! It doesn't end there with the toddler. They want to watch their tv show, while they simultaneously take all of the pillows off of the couch and create a fort. But as soon as you change the tv because clearly they weren't watching- "I was watching that!" (enter tantrum)
And sometimes this happens - "I want to watch Paw Patrol." To which I reply, "Sorry buddy, Paw Patrol isn't on now." "Why?" "I don't know, I'm not the program director for Nick Jr." (enter tantrum) Now I know I could probably find it on YouTube or through the On Demand menu, but hey, I didn't have that when I was a kid! And I also sat through commercials, so get it together toddler! See, I can play his little game too. And besides, you know it's fun sometimes to mess with them since they spend so much time messing with you!
These cuteness wielding hell-raisers love to mess with you. They really do it for fun. I believe they get joy out of watching their parents get worked up. Taunting us with their cuteness as they proceed to mush cupcake in their freshly washed hair. Or doing something you told them explicitly not to do 100 times prior, while they look you right in the eye and do it. Oh they love that one!
And let's talk about the repetition factor, which really is synonymous with the toddler. If you have a toddler then you have heard the same question, the same request, the same song stated/sung/yelled over and over and over again. Or if you're a mom, you've definitely heard your "name" said in 10 different ways for 10 minutes straight. I've contemplated just having him call me Beth. But I'm sure he'd find a way to beat that to death too, but "mom" he just abuses. Momma. Mom. Mommy. Mooooommmmyyyyy!!! Ugh. It's exhausting.
And then this mini juxtaposition of angel and devil, when you tuck them in at night, manages to make up for all (ok most, ok some) of their shitty little toddler ways. Their need to hug and kiss you more times than is necessary, while probably a tactic to avoid sleep, gets you every time. Those puckered lips and that need to give you a big hug and a kiss, a little hug and a kiss, maybe even a Valentine hug and kiss or my favorite, the Hulk hug and kiss. It makes up for the craziness of the day. And it sets you up for tomorrow. And for more yelling, timeouts, tantrums and tests of will and patience. Oh how I love my sweet, sweet toddler monster.
Peace. Love. And sanity. (which you're going to need to keep a death grip on with a toddler)
No comments:
Post a Comment