Terrible twos, one of the many challenging stages kids go through. We have all heard horror stories about this stage. (I have been told they all seem like Club Med compared to living with a teenage girl.) We have been mired in the terrible twos with Annie for some time now and in a twisted sort of way, I like living with a two year old. Tina is going to do a classic spit take when she reads that, but I stand behind my statement and I will try to defend it here.
I understand my wife's frustration in dealing with our little tyrant, she never gets a break. She wakes up early and spends every day dealing with a 40 pound, high energy, independent, frustrated, sticky Lilliputian menace. I bet that gets old. I spend part of my day dealing with adults that act like toddlers, but that's the "grass is always greener" debate. I give Tina a lot of credit for the job she is doing with Annie, I think part of the reason she gets so frustrated is because she doesn't take the easy way out and park the brat in front of the tube and let Sponge Bob raise her. If she did that, I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy the weekends and three hours in the evening I get to spend with the kids.
I don't want to write about what a pain in the ass a toddler is, we all know that, I want to share the things I like about having a toddler in the house. I like the way her eyes light up when she recognizes a letter she has learned. She never gets tired of being read to and is starting to point out familiar words in her books. She is taking the first step into a larger world. I like the way Jon takes the responsibility of teaching her things he knows. We have never forced him to entertain his sister or be the babysitter. He seems to get satisfaction from showing her the ropes. That says a lot about his character. I also see he gets a kick out of tormenting her but that is the birthright of an older sibling and as long as he shows restraint, I'm going to let him keep it. The thing I like the most about living with Annie is watching her find her inner comedian. She discovered long ago that if she can make Mom or Dad (mostly Dad) smile when she has gotten into mischief, it's sort of like a Get Out Of Jail Free Card. She is developing comic timing, the hardest part about telling a joke. Good timing can get you an involuntary spit take from your audience, that is almost like having a double punchline. She seems to wait for the setup to sink in before moving to the payoff. Yesterday we were having rough play on the couch and I pushed her onto the floor. I was expecting her to run to Mom for comfort because Daddy is an oaf again. Instead I saw her eyes light up and her face spread into a huge smile. She climbed back onto the couch and asked me to push her off again. We repeated that exercise several times. My little girl has discovered the pratfall. I beamed with pride
I understand my wife's frustration in dealing with our little tyrant, she never gets a break. She wakes up early and spends every day dealing with a 40 pound, high energy, independent, frustrated, sticky Lilliputian menace. I bet that gets old. I spend part of my day dealing with adults that act like toddlers, but that's the "grass is always greener" debate. I give Tina a lot of credit for the job she is doing with Annie, I think part of the reason she gets so frustrated is because she doesn't take the easy way out and park the brat in front of the tube and let Sponge Bob raise her. If she did that, I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy the weekends and three hours in the evening I get to spend with the kids.
I don't want to write about what a pain in the ass a toddler is, we all know that, I want to share the things I like about having a toddler in the house. I like the way her eyes light up when she recognizes a letter she has learned. She never gets tired of being read to and is starting to point out familiar words in her books. She is taking the first step into a larger world. I like the way Jon takes the responsibility of teaching her things he knows. We have never forced him to entertain his sister or be the babysitter. He seems to get satisfaction from showing her the ropes. That says a lot about his character. I also see he gets a kick out of tormenting her but that is the birthright of an older sibling and as long as he shows restraint, I'm going to let him keep it. The thing I like the most about living with Annie is watching her find her inner comedian. She discovered long ago that if she can make Mom or Dad (mostly Dad) smile when she has gotten into mischief, it's sort of like a Get Out Of Jail Free Card. She is developing comic timing, the hardest part about telling a joke. Good timing can get you an involuntary spit take from your audience, that is almost like having a double punchline. She seems to wait for the setup to sink in before moving to the payoff. Yesterday we were having rough play on the couch and I pushed her onto the floor. I was expecting her to run to Mom for comfort because Daddy is an oaf again. Instead I saw her eyes light up and her face spread into a huge smile. She climbed back onto the couch and asked me to push her off again. We repeated that exercise several times. My little girl has discovered the pratfall. I beamed with pride
1 comment:
Wow, this is great. I can't wait to see them. Jon is so big.
Post a Comment