Life with a Toddler

There is never a dull moment in my life. It ebbs and flows with sweet amazing loving times and crashes with crazy loud toddler shenanigans. And it is in those times when we find ourselves looking at each other wondering what the hell just happened? Those times are many living with a toddler. It is like living with someone going through menopause, you're hot, you're cold, you're hot... You get the gist, toddlers change with the wind, their attitude and as I am finding out her clothes! One minute they are a little angel and the next devil horns have sprouted and they are shooting fire from their precious little mouth.

We are going through a change (one that I hope has a very near end in site) and with that change said toddler, ahem Olivia, is becoming quite demanding. Each morning she wakes up and demands gummies (fruit snacks) apparently the new toddler crack! When we say no, to which we say every morning, we are met with kicks, flails, and then she is laid out on the floor in the ultimate fit. Ahh the days before we had children, those glorious delusional days, when we thought to ourselves, our child will never do that. I look back at my childless-self and laugh as I step over the screaming toddler and carry on about my business. Then it's quiet and we all know that no good can come of this.

When there is trouble to be caused you could call a toddler a little ninja, she can get into something without us even noticing she is missing in action. Between the quiet and her small size she can move stealthily from one place to another. She fits perfectly behind the height of the sofa, counters, and tables (I'm sure it doesn't help that her Daddy and I are not the tallest people in the world, hell I'm only a couple inches from being the same height practically). How do you think this little magic happened?

Yes, this happened while she was supposed to be playing in her room and Daddy was cleaning up from dinner (Mommy was out of town). It is also when we find her streaking through the house to the tune of my-shirt-is-wet-so-I'm-changing, or you find her climbing on chairs to reach in her dresser for new panties because she wants Dora instead of Cinderella, or we-must-dirty-every-pair-of-leggings-we-have-so-Mommy-can't-ever-get-caught-up-on-laundry-again.That is if she even wants to put clothes back on, I can't count how many times we have eaten our dinner while she sports only a shirt after she goes potty. Don't judge me sometimes I would like to eat without getting indigestion from arguing with her! I sometimes wonder if I will be visiting her when she is older at her home on a nudist colony?

After 4 days of single parenthood (Daddy's little vacation) I wanted to change my name! I never realized that the reason we marry and then have children is so that there is someone else's name for them to call scream for a hundred times in 2 hours. In the car she asks to watch her movie and silly me I wanted to talk to her about her day so I said no (I lied and said it wasn't working, otherwise it would be "Mommy I wanna watch my movie" on repeat for 15 minutes). Well she didn't want to talk about her day, so my questions went ignored, who out there knew that a 2 1/2 year old was smart enough to just pretend you weren't talking to them? Oh You were talking to ME, Mom? Silly me I thought you were talking to the other little girl in the car. Instead she wants to talk about everything else, Mom why are you stopping? (asked 50 times while we were moving) Mom, what is that? (from the backseat while I am driving and then getting mad that I have no idea what she is pointing to on the ground behind my seat) Mommy, I have to peepee! (It never fails) Mommy, I want a waffle. Mom I don't want a waffle! Mom stop! (when I am singing along to the radio that I have turned up to not hear my name). Mommy I want a poptart. Mommy I want gummies! Mommy (something in a super soft voice) that I then have to ask 15 times for her to repeat and she thinks its funny so she continues to say the same thing the same way. Ahhh life as a mother of a toddler!

It's as if she lives her life on a stage in a performance every day. She knows that she has an audience at all times and she knows how to make us laugh even if it's the stifled-we-shouldn't-be-laughing-at-this kind. And there is always a moment in the middle of us disciplining her that she says the sweetest thing that just catches you so off guard. It makes you wonder what you were yelling at this little angel for in the first place. It's a trap! They know they are getting in trouble for something that they did wrong so they figure if they sweeten you up that you will forget. I'm up on your little game!

Despite all the times where you just want to pull-your-hair-out-change-your-name-move-into-a-hole there are just as many times where you look at her calmly playing with her little brother and actually sharing her toys. And you think, this is what it is all about, these moments that just out weigh anything else that happens and in a moment of weakness you want to keep popping out these little miracles. But you remember the times where you are on your hands and knees scrubbing the hot pink nail polish off the tile floor, watching only as it makes larger pink circles. Yes, remember those times so you know that you don't want to have another one just yet.

Our Angel