Toddlerhood

Figuring out toddlers is certainly not easy. One of the hardest tasks is getting them to understand that they need to wait while you go and get something. The Beast will sob hysterically for juice, even when he knows I am in the kitchen, getting the juice out of the fridge and pouring it into his cup. It is rather frustrating.

And then there's the just not understanding them. Yesterday the kiddies begged for peanut butter and jelly for lunch. I made them the requested sandwiches and paired them with fresh peaches. The Beast freaked out for no apparent reason and kept screeching, "I wanted peanut butter and jelly! I wanted peanut butter and jelly!" I tried reassuring him that it was indeed peanut butter and jelly, but the drama continued for several more minutes until suddenly and mysteriously he stopped and then quickly inhaled his sandwich. ???

The food battles are the worst. Phrases such as "You need to at least try that" and "Come on - you love grapes and ate a whole bunch of them yesterday!" are useless. The Drama Queen's favorite food today could be a despised food next week. Both she and the Beast are very suspicious of new foods and flatly refuse to eat them. And lately, the Drama Queen has been casually tossing food she doesn't "like" off the table and then announcing, "Oops! My food fell off the table! Now it's dirty so I can't eat it!"

I thought that she had pulled that trick again this morning. She asked to be excused from the table, claiming that she had indeed eaten all of her cereal. Suspicious, I looked on the floor and around her table. "Momma! I really did eat it!" she chimed in. "See - it's all in here." And she lifted up her shirt with her slightly rounded tummy as proof that she ate her breakfast.

I smiled. Navigating the world of toddlers can be tough, but there are quite a few funny moments along the way. At least they aren't going all emo on me or getting ridiculously embarrassed to be seen with their parents! Before I know it, I'll be blogging about the drama of rearing teenagers.

And that's enough to scare the bejeebies out of me...