I Believe my Sense of Humor May be Lost on Some
Yesterday I wrote what was meant as a tongue in cheek post bemoaning the toddler tyrant who rules our house. A couple of my readers, befuddled by my awful sense of humor, offered vey well-meaning advice out of genuine concern. While yes, he is quite the handful, for the most part he really does fall within the "normal" range for a two year old developmentally and emotionally.
I mentioned he doesn't play with toys. Lil' Wingnut hasn't been a big toy kid either. He may not enjoy building with blocks, or playing with Little People, but he does love to role play--usually he is a bear and we are the hunters. He loves nerf guns, and weapons of every kind--thus the marauding aspect of his "play". He also loves sports and will play baseball, soccer, and football by his own set of rules.
His diet is horrible at times, but no more so than our other children who nursed long term. We have been terrible about allowing them to have too many sweets to begin with and who in their right mind goes back to brussel sprouts when there is chocolate in the house? As they've grown older, their diets have leveled out and become much more varied.
His sleep pattern really does leave a lot to be desired, but I will say this, he is my first child to still nap in the afternoon past the age of two. So while he may wake too frequently and too early, I am thankful for that afternoon break.
In the 5 years I spent in college and grad school, I took two extremely useful courses that I still refer to as a mother. The first was a developmental psychology course. Having an idea of what constitutes normal development in our children has been incredibly helpful throughout the years. Lil' Lamb definitely falls within the normal development categories for all his childhood milestones, thus far. He's just been spoiled. (The other college course I still use today was a graduate level study of children's literature--our kids have a fantastic library as a result).
Yes, our lil' guy has been a challenge, but really no more so than any of our other children. Wingnut and I just happen to laugh a bit more at his temper tantrums, because that is what happens when you are older, fairly experienced parents. You come to realize, each little one is a person of his own and there is very little more you can do than sit back and watch and parent each one the best you can, hopefully with a little humor thrown in.
I mentioned he doesn't play with toys. Lil' Wingnut hasn't been a big toy kid either. He may not enjoy building with blocks, or playing with Little People, but he does love to role play--usually he is a bear and we are the hunters. He loves nerf guns, and weapons of every kind--thus the marauding aspect of his "play". He also loves sports and will play baseball, soccer, and football by his own set of rules.
His diet is horrible at times, but no more so than our other children who nursed long term. We have been terrible about allowing them to have too many sweets to begin with and who in their right mind goes back to brussel sprouts when there is chocolate in the house? As they've grown older, their diets have leveled out and become much more varied.
His sleep pattern really does leave a lot to be desired, but I will say this, he is my first child to still nap in the afternoon past the age of two. So while he may wake too frequently and too early, I am thankful for that afternoon break.
In the 5 years I spent in college and grad school, I took two extremely useful courses that I still refer to as a mother. The first was a developmental psychology course. Having an idea of what constitutes normal development in our children has been incredibly helpful throughout the years. Lil' Lamb definitely falls within the normal development categories for all his childhood milestones, thus far. He's just been spoiled. (The other college course I still use today was a graduate level study of children's literature--our kids have a fantastic library as a result).
Yes, our lil' guy has been a challenge, but really no more so than any of our other children. Wingnut and I just happen to laugh a bit more at his temper tantrums, because that is what happens when you are older, fairly experienced parents. You come to realize, each little one is a person of his own and there is very little more you can do than sit back and watch and parent each one the best you can, hopefully with a little humor thrown in.
Comments