The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Ahh.....life with a 2 year old! I have come to liken the experience of parenting a two year old to what I imagine it must be like to be on the bomb squad. Things can go one of two ways: really good or really bad. Sometimes you can diffuse an impending explosion with a steady hand and delicate maneuvering. Other times...well, things aren't so pretty. Either way living in a constant state of alert can be draining and no doubt taxing on the nerves. It's a good thing for wine.

Big, delicious boxes of wine.

Perhaps I shouldn't make generalization about all two year olds. Morgan, who is certainly no monster (I know for a fact there are much more difficult handle kids out there), has been blessed with a wicked-strong independent streak (hmmm, wonder who he gets that from), an intense desire to figure out how every little thing works (wonder who he gets that from), and a total lack of self-preservation. All will serve him well one day in an adult world, but for now you can see how this combo can present more than a few headaches for Mama.

Seriously though, while parenting these days can be a bit of a struggle it is also really, really awesome. For all the headaches and frustration he doles out, the boy is pretty hilarious. He's at that age where everything that comes out of his mouth I want to write down. He has this sort of stream of consciousness thing going on where random thoughts get all strung together and intertwined into long rambling tales that sometimes take the concentration of a surgeon to discern. Plus the fact that he switches back and forth between first and third person randomly (often in the same sentence) and his confusion when it comes to gender specific pronouns. It certainly makes for some wild stories.

Perhaps the most endearing thing that just brings me to tears almost daily is how he just loves on his little sister. It's over the top, make a mama's heart melt sweet. He showers her with hugs and kisses and tells me that she is his baby all the time. He looked at me the other day and said, "Moonie just loves baby Sunny so much" (yup, I am tearing up just writing it). I so look forward to watching their relationship grow. As much mommy-guilt as I have some days for not being able to give either one 100% of myself, I know that it is made up for with the love and attention they give each other. That feels pretty darn good.   

He also has taken to calling me out on things which can certainly be annoying, but I kind of like. It keeps me on my toes for sure. For example, the other day we got home from the grocery store and I was hurrying to get things put away and to make lunch before nap time when he asked me to color with him. It was certainly not my most stellar parenting moment, I should have stopped what I was doing and sat with him. I know these moments when he actually wants to do things with me are fleeting. But, like it is so easy to do, I was caught up in getting things done. Well then the phone rang, the baby needed me, etc. Finally after a good while he said in an exasperated little voice, "Mommy cooperate, PLEASE!" Needless to say, I did.

Then there was the dinner incident. It was the end of a string of long days and Morgan was trying to "help" me with dinner and was getting into and grabbing everything (particularly all the hot and sharp things). He was standing on a chair next to me and was being silly jumping around or something and started to fall off the chair. Thankfully he caught himself. Unfortunately he also caught the huge bowl of quinoa salad that I had just finished. What didn't become a free for all for the dogs was all over me. I'm not proud to admit this, but I yelled, "Dammit, Morgan!" out of complete frustration. He looked at me and quite indignantly (and rightly so) proclaimed, "No Mommy say dammit to Morgan". Gulp...no I shouldn't have and I immediately felt terrible. I apologized and I suppose I could rationalize and try to make myself feel better about losing my cool by saying it lead to a "teachable moment" about controlling emotions and handling things appropriately. Ultimately he was just being two and being curious and silly, but it was me who was really acting like the two year old.

Nothing like a toddler to teach you about being a grown up....

I could go on sharing  "Morganisms" (to steal term coined by my brother-in-law, Andy) and I will in future posts, but for now I have to go get him off the top of the refrigerator.