Let me start off by saying that I am by no means supermom. None of us are no matter how many times during pregnancy we envisioned how it was going to be. You know you did too...the visions of quiet time cuddled on the couch with your 1 year old reading and having in depth conversations about the creation of stars, going shopping with your little mini me for hours and taking them out to dinner with friends where they would be just as involved with the conversation.
I was not so naive that I thought any of the above would actually happen, I had much more simple visions of what would be accomplished during the toddler years. I had envisioned hours at the table creating wonderful masterpieces using unique bits and pieces of treasures found on long walks around the neighborhood. What is the reality? Trying to keep the 1 year old from eating too many crayons, helping the 2 year old with his ongoing effort to not put any holes in his paper because this is the end of the world, locating every pink and purple crayon in the house for the 3 year old because lets face it, girls can only use these colors no matter what the subject matter might be. And we have the very smart 4 year old that is very easily frustrated and proceeds to announce during all of this chaos that he will no longer be participating because he's just had enough and is practicing his pitching by throwing his book across the table, usually in the direction of one of his little brother's heads.
On top of all of this we have the never ending, multiplying tangle of toys. Does anyone else feel that when they aren't looking Barbie goes on a shopping binge and purchases another 45 pairs of tiny shoes that always seem to manage to embed themselves in a foot at 3am? Or that the circus animals open the back door and beckon for all of their counterparts from the neighborhood to sneak in? Now, I am no longer a stickler for "everything in it's place" because that could very easily end with me in a white coat but I would like to be able to walk through the living room without balancing on one toe as if walking through a mine field. I have yet to understand the purpose of pulling out the entire bin of toys to find that one dinosaur and then walking away from it. My 3 year old has taken to closing her eyes when I ask her to pick something up and repeating the phrase "I don't see anything" over and over again. My 4 year old melts down, my 2 year old runs away saying "no" what seems like 100 times a second and my 1 year old, bless his heart tries to help. This usually entails throwing blocks at my head and saying "I help". Yes honey, you are helping mommy. You are helping me right into the ER for who knows how many stitches.
I love my children with all of my heart and I have been told that all of these stages will pass and that I will miss them terribly. I don't know about missing the behavior but I know that I will miss all of the entertainment they provide on an hourly basis.
Stay tuned for the next blog when I discuss how to properly clean a human bite wound several times daily.
