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There comes a time in a baby’s life when they are no longer baby’s they become toddlers. This is when we as parents need to do two things,
Adapt and Accept….. Words from the wise mother of WILDROSE…
My son is 20 months
old and has for the past week and a bit been a little devil. Hitting, kicking, screaming, not playing with his toys, in fact throwing them every where, and eating was a big hassle because he kept throwing his food to the dog. He was just not a happy little kid. I blame some of it on his back teeth coming in but there was an underlying problem, what was this problem? It was brought to my attention by two friends on Minti. My son is no longer a baby, he is a toddler and I needed to treat him as such. This is where the upgrading and adapting comes in.
ADAPTING… As a parent over the last couple of days I have realized that I myself need to adapt to a new way of parenting. I kind of liken it to giving in and saving sanity, but it really is adjusting to my son getting older. For example, my son no longer wants to sit in his highchair. Hence the reason his food was going to the dog, it was taking me 10 minutes just to get him in the chair only to figure out that he was not going to eat anyway. So after chatting with my two friends about my son now being a toddler I decided to put away the chair and adapt. I let him sit at the table with an adult chair not a highchair. He happily got up on the chair all by himself, and waited for me to place his food in front of him and ate it all… Here are just a couple of things I adapted too...
SHOPPING: After trying to stick him in the kiddy seat in the front part of the shopping trolley I realized it was not going to happen, so I let him stand! Okay not the most practical if you want a big shop, but just for the little shop I realized my boy was happy to take the stuff I was giving him and placed it in the trolley. Also he got a kick out of giving the stuff to me as well so I could put it on the belt and pay for it. If you are ready to trust your child with a kiddy trolley I would totally recommend it.
WASHING HIS FACE: This is a tough one, he does not like it at all! So I got the cloth ready for him and handed it to him, then I washed my own face, and sang a little do di do di do la la la while I washed my face and he joined in, not the most efficient ways of cleaning his face but you can always get him with the bath tub later.
CLEANING: He always wants to help with the cleaning of the floor, so why not give him a broom. I'd suggest a small one so he does not knock anything off the tables or benches, but what is the harm in it anyway. He feels he is helping, and really I worked out that he is, by letting me keep my sanity by not screaming or trying to steal my broom..
In adapting I have found that letting him do a lot of this stuff himself he will get better with the face washing, and I had a very enjoyable shopping experience and enjoyed a great meal with out having to worry about the dog getting to his food. These are just a couple of things I have had to adapt to…
TOYS: Now this can be expensive but it does not have to be. Because my son is getting older, I had to realize that the activities had to change along with his toys. He always wanted to join in on his sister’s activities I did with her, but I always left him with crayon and paper. This was not enough for him, so why not get him some markers of his own, PIP SQUEAK MARKERS are amazing and wash off sooooo easily. Okay I don’t suggest giving him scissors, or glue, but you can cut out the paper and put the glue down and show them where to put it. Also his toys needed to be a little older. I was lucky and had a stash of bigger boys toys handed down from his cousin and some from his sister. But there are many places where you can find much cheaper toys, and activities. Garage sales and what not… Blocks, play dough are just a couple of ideas...
So the something I did right was Adapting to my sons growing, and accepting that I just can’t change it. He is going to get older no matter what I do, poor kid can’t stay a baby forever…
(February 2007) (
