Jul 18 2008
Ahead of the Learning Curve
My toddler is leaping into his terrible twos with both feet first. Gone are the days when he’d sit idly by while we pushed him in a shopping cart on a prolonged and lazy trip to the store. Gone are the days when his cries could be abated by a simple distraction, when a back rub or high pitched coo would soothe his frustrations.
Our agenda today was nothing out of the ordinary. Lunch, a couple of errands, then home. We even waited until after our little darling had taken his nap, so as to ensure a friendly outing. It should have been a recipe for success, right?
Uhm. No.
Baby boy screamed through lunch, had to be removed from BK’s twice actually. Screamed in the van to BJ’s, screamed as we snaked our way through the aisles at BJ’s, screamed in the van to Target, then screamed the entire time we were at Target, then fell asleep on the way home…I assume exhausted from all that screaming. That screaming that was drilling into my brain, that screaming that was aging me visibly in a matter of hours, that screaming that made even the other kids hold there heads and beseach him to please, please, be quiet.
Let me ease your concerns. He was not in physical pain, he was not hungry, he was not, when we started out, tired, he was not in want of anything but his way. He wanted to be out of the cart, he wanted to eat a baby wipe, he wanted to throw DVD cases, he wanted to pull someone’s hair, he wanted to run free with his siblings, he wanted to break things. He’s trying to assert his tyrannical toddler will and we as his parent’s are there to thwart his every effort.
It is a job, let me tell you. I know it gets better. But I’ve had experience in this arena. It gets worse before it gets better, and this little boy is getting a jump on things. Why wait till two when he can terrorize his parent’s now and gain some valuable footing? Maybe break us before he starts kindergarten?
His weakness…just like a man…is a pretty girl. After all that tantrum throwing, the only thing to bring him briefly out of his tirade was the smile of a young woman in low riding jeans, sporting a lower back tattoo. He was all grins after that.
Go figure.
