daddyville

This is my 2yr. old daughter Shayla's newest reply to her father's querries.
  "Come here Shayla", I say. "I busy busy busy", she says. "I know, I'm busy too, trying to get you to come over here of your own volition, and clean up this mess". It's certainly easier if I don't have to go and pick her up--as it is I'm constantly having to bend over and stand up, bend over and stand up, bend over... You get the picture.
  Yes, it's cute; prescious, in fact, as long as it doesn't get out of hand, which is our job as parents. To laugh with your child, be their friend, and yet still be the firm parent they want, respect, and need.

 ....Take a Deep Breath and Count to Ten...

She likes putting on our shoes and trying to walk around the house for a bit. (She seems to like being on stage.) Just recently she's started the whole 'look at me' thing. :)

There comes the day when you realize that your little toddler has shifted the gears upstairs. You realize that they have begun what we all learn to do extremely well----think for ourselves and our Own Interests...first. Yes,...there's humor in it. It's that kind of under your breath laughter that signals to you that from Here On Out you will have to step it up a notch because your child has just crossed into Toddler/Manipulator(Growth package,phase II).
   That moment when you realize that your child is Fake crying for the first time (and you almost fell for it) is a revelatory one. You rub your hands together as you realize that the Games have begun. I like to think of it as a kind of domestic spy game. You already know 'who' they're workin' for---Themselves, of course, but how good is their subterfuge? Can you see through it and expose them before they con you or do they pull it off without any suspicion (a 'win')?? If you realize it afterwards that doesn't count. A 'win' is still a win.
   If the child succeeds in pitting the two Handlers (parents) against one another then their game has really increased. The goal is to see through it before the con has completed.
   It's really interesting how your communication with them changes: "Don't you think that I don't know what you're up to", and "You had best not be playing me", also a common one, "No...un uh, I don't think so"....and other phrases that after a while and an insane number of repititions make you sound like an idiot.
   That's the true Handler's, Oops I mean Parent's Job to see through the 'wool' of the situation to discern what is actually going on in that little mind. It's easy to be fooled by their size, I try not to be, however that doesn't mean that I always succeed.

  
....Take a Deep Breath and Count to Ten...

Here's a few pics of Shayla on her Backyard toys today. Boy we sure got a good little drenching from that thunderstorm early this morning! The sandbox was open and got hit Hard..