Some Things I've Learned About Toddlerhood

Lately, with being at home with Mason all the time and things changing for him, I've learned a few things. Here are the ones I can remember:

1. Taking the side off of a convertible crib to make it a "big boy bed" doesn't have to be that big of a deal. A few days ago, we took the side of Mason's crib off, and just put up a safety rail. We gave him a real pillow and made a big deal about him being a big boy now, but still in the back of my mind I was sure he'd have a rough time--whether it was crying, confusion, somehow falling out, or thinking he could get out of bed whenever he wants and not staying in.. He's been pretty good with it, actually. The first night we had a little trouble. Five minutes after laying him down and we went off to the bedroom to put away laundry, he came right out onto the couch and just sat there, with a bewildered look on his face. That was kinda funny. So I calmly walked him back into his room and told him it was bedtime. No other real problems, except that he forgets he doesn't need to call to me to get out of bed. He's still waking me up by yelling "Maaawmmmeeeee!" from his bed, instead of just coming out. We'll work on that.

2. It's true what they say: potty training isn't always easy and boys often take longer. Yeah, I get that now. In the past, I've worked for like 5 different daycares and worked with a lot of toddlers. I've helped them learn to talk, walk, eat and potty train. It doesn't seem that big of a deal when you're only their caregiver for the day. Having a two year old 24 hours a day is a whole different story. At first, my hubby and I were so excited because Mason was so enthused about the whole potty thing. He would run at full speed for the bathroom and say, "Yay, potty!" We thought, wow, this is easier than we thought. He would sit happily on his potty seat for as long as a half an hour, reading books and singing. This is a piece of cake, we thought. Then the cake was snatched from our prideful hands and all we were left with was smeared icing and hunger pains. Apparently the potty is not that exciting afterall. He started saying "no" and refusing to go. What is a parent to do? I don't want to be that parent that drags their child by the arm to the potty, all the while their toddler is kicking and screaming and crying. What does that teach them about the potty? So, we tried the M & M thing. Also great for a little while. He would receive an M & M for just sitting there and another one for peeing (and a handful for pooping!). He would sit gleefully on the potty with his sticker-laden jar of candy and I was positive this was the thing that would get him in underwear. Nope. He doesn't care about it anymore, no matter the inflection in our voice or our body language. So now we have a jar of M & M's in the bathroom, and he is pretty indifferent about them. Any suggestions out there? A sticker chart was suggested, like the M & M's and you could have a goal of so many stickers for a toy or something. I don't know. I guess it's worth a try. I don't want to be buying my 10 year old adult diapers someday, because we just couldn't find anything that motivated him.

3. A parent of a toddler usually has a harder time with transitions than the toddler does. Case in point. My hubby and I had been discussing moving Mason up to the older toddlers classroom at church for awhile now, but we thought we'd wait until after Family Camp. Well, Family Camp was last week. Last night, we signed Mason in at his regular class, but since there was still a half an hour before service started, Daddy took him for a walk around church. Next door (the bigger kids room) there's a fishtank. Mason loves the fishtank. So in they went to admire the fishies. I was still in Mason's regular class, chatting with the lead teacher. I came out and couldn't find my husband and son, so I walked across the way to the coffee shop and got a Frappucino. A little later, my hubby walked up to me and told me that Mason was in the big class. I was taken by surprise. We hadn't said we'd do it right then!! I began to get upset with him over it. I guess two of the main teachers in the older class had told my hubby that Mason was totally ready, so he left our son there. He was ready. And he knows and loves quite a few of the people in there. So why did it bug me so much? I don't know! But I eventually began to tear up and feel a string of emotions--sadness, confusion, happiness, frustration, among others. After talking it over with my husband, I realized my emotions were mostly driven by the fact that Mason is growing up faster than I would like. I've told you before being a mom can make you crazy (you just wait, PBAF!!)!!! Ms. Cindy told me that it was totally normal to feel this way, especially with your first (which she immediately added that we needed to have more kids, and then we'd be celebrating when they move up!). That made me feel better, and probably made my hubby feel better, since he wasn't quite sure what to say or do to make me feel at ease. I am now happy he moved up. He loved it in there. I peeked in on him before picking him up and saw him sitting in a little chair at a table, smiling and enjoying himself. And they got to take real Goldfish home. They had a little pool and let the kids catch their own fish. Mason caught two (which one has already died) so we brought two home. And I'm fine with him being a big boy. Or at least I'm fine with this event.

4. No matter how many toys a kid has, he will pretty much pick the same ones all the time. Mason has an array of toys and activities to choose from on a daily basis: 7 or 8 board puzzles, big bins of books, a bucket of cars and planes, a sit-down play piano thing, a bucket of blocks, a bin of shape sorter things, play phones and other musical toys and lots of stuffed animals. But you know what he spends most of his day playing with? Mainly potatoheads at this point, but sometime he'll switch it up and play with his farm animals and farm. That's pretty much it. I can rearrange the toys, bring out toys he hasn't seen or played with in months, be he still gravitates towards the potatoheads and farm animals. Why is that? The comfort of predictability? He doesn't like his other toys? Who knows? But I could pack away or throw away everything else, and I'm not sure he'd notice or care.

5. I'm sure I have a #5. I just can't think of it now. So, I guess you're left with only 4. And as I'm glancing back up at this, I think that's plenty. Sorry for the extensive length. Guess I was in a chatty mood this morning.