Freight Train Toddlerhood

Sometimes being the mom of a toddler makes me feel like I'm on a freight train that I cannot stop. Sometimes this is a frustrating thing. Sometimes it's a good thing. Nathaniel can be the most stubborn little guy I've ever known, and today I'm pondering how this may well be an evolutionary trait necessary to toddlerhood. For example: lately he is really wanting his own way. He insists on putting on his own clothes. He insists on wearing what he wants to wear. He insists on drinking from a big boy cup and refuses anything that has a spout or a straw. He doesn't want to sit in his booster seat at dinner. He demands we sing along the ABC song with him, twenty five billion times a day. He wants to jump, crash, tumble, dive, roll, run, bounce, dance, and hop all over the floor and sometimes the furniture too.

All of this can be incredibly frustrating, but as his mother, I realize these are all things that help him on his way to gaining independence. And I cannot stop him. I don't want to stop him! So last Wednesday after walking into the room a few times to him having just stripped down and peed on the floor, I took two seconds to evaluate the situation and realized - I guess we're potty training. It's been requiring a lot of time and patience but I'm trying to go with the flow. After all, there's just no stopping the learning freight train I call Nathaniel!