The Wonder Years

          I have a three and a half year-old.  The book, What to Expect the Toddler Years, stops at 36 months, so now I’m on my own.  I guess I could buy another book, but to be honest, having a toddler and working makes my life a wee bit busy. (Oh, and there’s my 16 month old. He’ll be featured in another blog. J)   I don’t have time to stop in the middle of a meltdown and consult a book, so I practice a lot of trial and error. 

          I am forever shaking my head in amazement at the things Andrew says and does.  It dawned on me over the weekend that these are my wonder years…

Ø  I wonder how I can spend 30 minutes cleaning a room only to have it destroyed in 30 seconds.

Ø  I wonder how I can spend 5 minutes smacking the sand out of a shoe only to pick it up later and more sand dumps out!

Ø  I wonder what boogies are made of and how they become hermetically sealed to your nose.

Ø  I wonder why you think “yes” means “no” and “no” means “yes”?

Ø  I wonder what internal mechanism tells you 6:00 is weekday wake up time and 5:30 is weekend wake up time.

Ø  I wonder how you’ve already figured out the art of negotiating – well, sort of, since “one more time” usually turns into three and “two more minutes” usually turns into five! J  

Ø  I wonder how you can make me laugh and cry at the same time.

Ø  I wonder if you will still tell me I am your “best, best friend” when you are a teenager and want to borrow the car.

          Parenting is hard.  Reading books and articles helps some as does talking with other parents.  I try to smile as much as possible and appreciate as many moments as I can – even the trying ones.  I have been told over and over how fast time goes by.  I want to bottle some days and, well, let’s be honest, erase some others.  In the end, I couldn’t imagine my life without children.  I never wonder what it would be like without them.  J