compass needed

A few days ago, a friend posted a picture of her 17 mos old laying on the floor, face down, with arms above her head. The caption read “My 17 month old is so talented, she can throw a fit like a 2 year old!”. I thought this post was funny, and chuckled to myself, as this is our life right now too. It seems like overnight, my cooperative toddler suddenly has an opinion.  And when he wants something, he lets you know. His two obsessions these days… baby einstein and toothbrushes! When he sees the remote in our room, he starts pointing at the tv and whining until you turn it on. If you don’t, he will have a meltdown. When you go into the bathroom, he follows you, and willl point at the cabinet and whine until you give him a toothbrush. If you don’t, he will have a meltdown. You get the picture. In the two short weeks that this has been happening, I already find myself in a panic sometimes. As the mother of a baby, sure, there are lots of things to worry over, like  “Is he getting enough milk?”, “Will his belly button ever fall off?”, “Is he getting enough tummy time?”, “Will he ever sleep through the night?”, but when the toddler stage suddenly has the word DISCIPLINE ringing in my ears, it feels like I have stepped into a whole other arena. I desperately want to do discipline “right”, but I know that this is a tall order. So for now, I am thankful for those mommies who have gone through the trenches before me, and share their wisdom and knowledge with honesty and love. And for the Christ loving authors who pen books for first time moms like me to read.

So, these days you may find my toddler watching baby einstein while chewing on a toothbrush… or you may not ! ; )