Toddlers get a bad rap sometimes, for obvious reasons. Their casual disdain for avoiding public humiliation, the way they suddenly morph into a screaming, clingy demon with an insatiable urge to be attached to your pantleg the moment you open the refrigerator to begin making dinner, their uncanny knack for abandoning their contented, independent play time as soon as you sit down to make a phone call…I could write a whole post called 25 Reasons Why Toddlers Suck, but in an effort to stay positive, I’m going to focus instead on the perks of living with a toddler. Mostly because there have been many moments like this in the past few weeks:
The meltdowns are plentiful these days.
and these:
that have caused me to step up my effort to have a good attitude. So here goes:
- Toddlers make you appreciate the little things. You know, like trucks and goats. To put it more eloquently, when sharing your life with a toddler, you are constantly exposed to the sheer wonder of life. When driving anywhere with my toddler, I find myself enthusiastically pointing out every single horse, dog, and goose, and loudly mimicking their noises for her amusement. And trains? That’s like the toddler car-ride jackpot. How many times in the past week have I seamlessly shifted into my high, screechy, needs-medication voice to announce, “Looook!!!! There’s a tra-ai-n out Sophie’s window! Chugga chugga WOO WOO!!!” And the funny thing is, I don’t even feel stupid. I feel genuinely delighted when I notice something, like a squirrel in our backyard, that I know is going to excite her. I distinctly remember arriving at the end of that stage with Izzy; one day in the car, I felt compelled to point out a horse, and commented to my husband that nobody really gave a shit about farm animals out the window anymore.
- Toddlers smile with their whole being. As cliched as it may sound, when Sophie smiles, it lights up her entire face. Toddlers are incapable of the polite smile, the fake smile, (though the development of the “fake cough” and “fake laugh” is quite fantastic) or the self-conscious smile. That kind of natural joy and uninhibited self-expression is something for adults to aspire to.
I swear, she is occasionally fully clothed!
- The “I’m Gonna Get You!” Game. Or more accurately, the “I’m-gon-gitchoo!” game. No matter how many times I catch her on her way up the stairs and announce that I’m “gon-git” her, she thinks it is hilarious and worthy of squealing every single time.
- The heavy head on your shoulder. I adore those few moments in the day when Sophie rests her whole body against me and drops her head to my shoulder. I think I will remember the sensation of the weight of a child’s sleepy head against me for the rest of my life. It is one of my favorite parts of the day, and another one of those fleeting joys of toddlerhood.
- The communication gap begins to close. It is so surprising and gratifying when you realize that your child understands what you are saying. The other day I flippantly suggested that my toddler throw away the soggy bagel she was toting around before she climb on me, and she actually went to the trash can and tossed it in! Didn’t see that one coming! For all the things I find
despicablechallenging about parenting in the second year of childhood, the language explosion is definitely my favorite part. One of the most unexpected parts of the language acquisition with my second child has been her newfound ability to tell us “poop” before she actually goes; she has been pooping in the toilet with unexpected regularity. This is all very well and good, except for the fact that the overall process is a huge pain in the ass. It seems that I am always sitting at the dinner table when I hear her tiny voice inform me, “Poop. Poop!” Half the time it is a false alarm, as I think she enjoys the whole bathroom experience, particularly the flushing and waving bye-bye to her deposit.Sophie is learning new words every day, and slowly replacing her toddler-talk with actual words. For example, I felt strangely sad when she stopped referring to books as “boop!” and started pronouncing them correctly last week. I will savor these sweet inaccuracies for as long as I can, and for posterity’s sake, here are a few of my favorites.
- No-nock! Knock knock, always hollered while actually knocking at a door.
- Bop Bite, always used when requesting a coveted bite of something one of us is eating
- Siss-siss Sissy or Izzy, hard to tell which, but same difference.
- Bawk-cock Yeah, this is my favorite. Peacock.
- AHHH! All done, always shouted in a demanding tone
- Am-uh Our beloved friend Amber, whose photo on the fridge we point to daily
- Wo-wo She wants me to sing “Row, row, row, your boat.” Like fifty times.
So tomorrow, when I am flipping out over all the shrieking, squawking, food-throwing, and mess-making, I will re-read this list and remind myself of all the aspects of toddlerhood that make the struggles worthwhile. And the day after that…and the day after that…
*Just a few more days until the Top 25 Funny Moms contest ends ands puts us out of our misery…if you could be so kind…
I’m down there around #75. I know, not funny AT ALL, right?
I loved this. It was both beautiful and made me laugh out loud, starting with when you said you could write 25 Reasons Why Toddlers Suck. LOL! “I’m-gon-gitchoo” – I laughed out loud because seeing it spelled out the way we moms say it is hilarious. Your toilet is sparkling! I either wouldn’t take a pic of mine or would have to photoshop. That’s the most disgusting confession ever. Loved this and tweeted it!
HA! Not sure that it was sparkling…perhaps I just have low standards about letting my children put their faces near/on the bowl. Thank you so much for tweeting, sister!
Not a comment about your post, I’m afraid! I tagged you: http://www.bigaandlittlea.com/2013/02/twenty-questions-actually-morein-case.html! Have fun!!
Fun! Thanks!
This was great and as the mother of two toddlers recently could truly relate to the not so wonderful moments and the five reasons they are great, too. I love the whole face smiles and the cuddles the best. I still get so overjoyed by both and so true about it making the not so good moments all the worth while. Also true about looking back at this when you are having a bad day to remind you of the good times 🙂
I knew you’d get it, Janine! It is truly sad that I am now spending the whole day with a crabby, post-puking toddler. Ironic, eh?
Love, love, love.
Thanks, and thanks for tweeting too!
I love this, Stephanie! I need to tape this to my fridge. All of it is so true. Toddlers are so wild and crazy and infuriating and fun and exhausting and loving, all at the same time. It’s so easy to get exhausted and frustrated as a parent and begin to focus too much on the negative.
And isn’t it great when they randomly start to replace their baby gibberish with real words? Today my son first used the word “book.” Usually he just points to a book that he wants, grunts, and then screams, “Doggie!” or “Truck!” This morning he said “Truck book! Truck book!” and I almost started crying. 🙂
Thanks for such a great comment! I feel the same way- hearing a two word phrase will likely make me cry!
This is excellent!! Made me laugh…and tear up. The sign of great writing. Or whacked-out hormones. Whatever 🙂
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this! Thanks for sharing!
So sweet, and so true. My husband and I were gratified yesterday when we took Nate to the Aquarium for the first time. We weren’t sure how impressed he’d really be, but he literally ran up to the first tank growling with excitement. We couldn’t help but laugh, too. One of the sweetest moments I’ve had with him yet though was yesterday. My husband and I had been “disagreeing” about certain details and I leaned in to give him a kiss to break the tension and end the conversation on a more positive note. Nate was on my hip at the time and after he saw the kiss, in typical toddler copy-cat form, he leaned in to give me a big slobbery kiss, too. I think it was the sweetest thing EVER. *sigh* 🙂
Great list! I especially liked the “appreciating little things.” It’s so true. I still do it with my kids, who are older, and sometimes they are too plugged in to a device to notice, but other times, they still do appreciate seeing that cow or horse at the side of the road. And your daughter’s smile — love it — they really do smile with their whole being.
You’ve got one adorable toddler there and reading your post reminded me of all the wonderful things ahead with baby #2. The toilet flushing “comic strip”is hilarious. 😀
Awww – I totally miss my guys falling asleep on me. It’s one of the things that makes me saddest about them growing up……
I have had a toddler in my house for almost 10 years now so I have to say sometimes I think I’m a little over them and struggle with finding things about them I still find adorable … no. 4 is nearly two and I love the innocence and the funny stuff but am over the rest. Your post has been a reminder of the wonders of them .. extra cuddles for mine tomorrow xx
this almost made me want a toddler again. Almost. Priceless!!!
The difference between the first two photos really sums it up. Hysteria one moment, beautiful smile the next! Gotta love that too…they get over stuff so much quicker than we do! I love that you are going to try and think of your top five during the other not-so-savory stuff that toddlers can dish!
When the older ones were little, I knew of the good toddler things, but there were so many toddlers/babies at the same time, I could hardly see them through the screaming and crying.
This time, with only the two, I am savoring every single cuddle, every single word that comes out of their mouths. I know how precious and fleeting those cuddles are. The 14 year old who is taller than me just can’t lay his head on my shoulder like the three year old can, even if he wanted to.
Such a good mama you are to acknowledge these good things. Make multiple copies of the post and put them up all over the house and car.
Your “toddlers smile with their whole being” got me! Not only is that entirely true and so dear…then you pair it with your adorable toddler just beaming at us doing exactly that. It made me a little misty! (and she’s even adorable in her meltdown picture….how do you even stand all that cuteness??!!)
I could not agree more. I always think that my favorite thing about having a little one is that everything is AMAZING to them. I love the smiling part too!
I don’t have any of my own but spent a few years taking care of six (infant to 7), so I can say from experience that it’s quite the carnival ride!! 🙂 [#TALU]
All so true! I have a 3 year old and one on the way, and I love all the little reminders of how to view life through a child’s easy. Precious and perfect! TALU
I smiled through your entire post even though I started off recalling our worst ride ever driving back from my parents house (4.5 hours). For a good chunk of it my son whined, “I wanna go thaaaaat waaaaaay”. When he had fallen asleep I had to pee, but I held it all the way home so I wouldn’t have to wake him up. My son is 8 now and there’s two words left that I won’t correct and a new one “literie” (literrally). Thanks a million for buying my book. You made my day!