Toddlerhood is its own category for first time parents. There are many, many extremely annoying, frustrating, “Don’t touch that!” and, “Stop, no…I said no!” moments when you are the parent of a toddler. Think the little tyke will actually listen to you? Hah.
They will just keep on doing what they’re doing no matter how many times you tell them not to, or how loud you say it. They look at you as if to say, “Oh, were you talking to me?” Then, they go back to ignoring you, exploring their world and newfound independence.
The Toddler Phase Is A Lot Of Work
So yeah, the toddler phase is a huge energy drain and lots of work. You think as a parent that you can’t wait until they hit the next milestone.
When they’re newborns you think that if they can start crawling, things will get a little easier. Then when they crawl, but still can’t get around on their own, you say to yourself, “Gee, won’t it be great once she’s walking?” Well, then they’re walking…excuse me, um, running, and at lightning speed, no less. It’s like you gave birth to Jesse Owens or something.
Your Toddler Will Repeat Your Curse Words!
They’re saying words but not quite talking yet, at least not in coherent sentences. But they understand you more than you think and copy you when you don’t realize. After they repeat, “Shit,” you scratch your head and think, “Nah, she didn’t just say what I think she did, did she? It must have been ‘sheesh’ or something else.” And then she says it again, and this time its unmistakable.
Kids are absolute miracles. There’s nothing more exhausting and more magical than being a parent. At first when you don’t have kids, you can’t wait to give people back their child. When it’s your own, it’s totally different. There really is a bond. At least, I speak for myself, as my daughter and I have an incredibly unbreakable bond.
The toddler phase can be a challenge. It’s not easy at all. They get into everything, and our daughter has definitely reached the “terrible 2’s” at only 20 months old. Yet, there are many more times when she’s the sweetest child, kissing me and Daddy on the lips, blowing us kisses, turning on the charm with her adorable smile, even a casual shrug when we tell her how cute she is.
We keep our daughter as active as we can with multiple outings daily because she’s got so much energy. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to laugh at all of moments, both good and the bad. It’s all been amazing, amazingly hard, but amazing.
So Mom and Dad…don’t forget to just laugh. And enjoy every minute of your toddler being a toddler.
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