Toddlerhood

My apologies for my lack of entries Dearborn News in the past month. Have you ever seen those Johnson and Johnson commercials that say, "A baby changes everything?" While I agree with that slogan, I think the J&J marketing team needs to come up with something about toddlers. Our toddler has us on alert. She has been testing her limits. Completely natural at her age, but this new little person has taken us by surprise. It's like overnight she went from a needy baby to this independent little tiny woman. I don't use the term woman lightly. There are mood swings that I would expect from a 16 year old. My thought is, combat. Before we get too far into "toddlerhood", we need to gather information as fast as we can. Yes I am a guilty part of the internet generation. So I sit up late at night and read through Amazon reviews, searching for a book on toddlers, many advise you to know your child's personality and follow your instincts. Ok? So when my toddler is done eating, instead of waiting to be excused, she swipes every last morsel onto the ground and looks at me like as if to say, ok now I'm done can I get down? ...(voice in my head) follow instinct? Mmmm...I know that in her mind if the food is no longer in her sight line, it is gone, and it is time to move onto something new. So I know my child, but my instinct is to let her off the hook because I know she didn't mean to be naughty. THEN there is the more responsible voice in my head that says tell her in a firm voice no throwing food. By the time I think this all through she has long forgotten what the heck just happened and at that point she would be wondering why mommy is being so grumpy. So I guess the lesson is 1. incident happens, 2. close your eyes and think, think, think 3. act by instinct and hope for the best. Mmmm maybe the new J&J slogan...Toddler years: shit happens, close your eyes, and hope for the best.