daddyville

Shayla loves Hide and Go Seek. I like it at home...., but not necessarily inside of JC Penny's mens' dept. She thought it was the funniest thing today to hide from her daddy inside racks of clothes while I ran around calling out her name in an ever increasing stress filled timber while she remained silent ( and no doubt smiling). She Was smiling when I found her and had the audacity to appear shocked that I was upset with her. Oh Yeah....that would have gone over well:....I could see it all plain as day. "Sorry Honey, I lost Shayla Inside of JC Penny's. I looked around for a while, but couldn't find her. Maybe she decided to try out another family for a while. You know, Child Soverignity is occuring earlier and earlier these days....." No, I don't think so!!
   Note to Self: Remember to take out an Accident Insurance policy before returning to the mall with Shayla, my 2 1/2 yr old perpetual fidgeter. My heart rate did normalize again and I decided rather bravely to continue on with my shopping agenda amidst the pre-Fathers' Day throng. We go to the shoe department, all the while I am rehearsing with Shayla her parentally injected mantra, "Hands to yourself, eyes only, Do Not Touch." Not that this does much good, but one has to try. So she succeeds fairly well, except that when she finally cannot resist the Urge anymore, she decides that she must use this Metal Signage Stand as a pole vault. Well, that was not pretty. Fortunately no one was injured: product, the innocent bystander(of which there were many), or herself. Once again she was Shocked by the whole Cause and Effect chain of this seemingly bizarre world in which we live. It was funny,...sort of....after the fact. Who needs exercise when you can just take your 2 1/2 yr old bundle of love to the mall?

Since my little one doesn't really understand gravity as of yet, she is truly a danger to herself and those in her immediate vicinity. I say this with a smile on my face....
  She is strong enough to wield things that are bigger than her, but her dexterity and smarts have not yet caught up with her strength. This is a day to day problem as she is constantly 'man handling'(pardon the phrase) her little world.
  So in my caring for her---protecting her from herself---I am also looking out for my own wellbeing. We were taking a walk the other day when she found a really nice long(3-4ft.)tree branch which she was really determined to drag/carry around behind her. I tried to dissuade her from this, but she was not to be deterred. Finally, I said okay, which I later ammended via my Executive Parental Order after she almost took out my eyeball with it. These things apparently never stop with a 2yr. old. You are never safe no matter how tired or exasperated you become, and furthermore those states are an impediment to your awareness to boot.
  So without being a Nazi, I smile and attempt to be 'en guarde' to protect my child from herself as well as myself, and yet allow her to be the Free Two Year Old Explorer that she Is. I say this as I put on my knee pads and helmet and venture out into the common living space of our home.. Say,...when does her next developmental stage begin??

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

It's very interesting how logic and self protection develops in a little person. It's one of those gradual and very individual processes. When there's victory--positive cognitive progress--we celebrate and own it due to a 'superior genetic pool' and when there's not,..well..we see the in-laws at work. "I don't have anything to do with that", we tell ourselves.
   By all accounts the process of this 'development of logic' seems laboriously s..l..o..w. It's really not, and we know this, but when you are responsible for some very basic oversights on the part of your little one every day experiences slow way down.
   Why do children Want to play in the street??? Why, when they are walking with you at the edge of the road do they yearn to wander into the middle?? There's nothing in the middle of the road that's interesting anyway? All that nasty debris that they love so much is at the edge of the road by the curb!? You would think that evolution would've weeded out this tendency long ago not giving the mind any say so in it, but alas it is not so. It's a wonder that we have made it this far. Well, children are pretty much made of cartiledge, thankfully. That is, most assuredly an evolutionary move for, at least, durability and too improve the chances of a future generation!
   At times it's funny. At other times it's scary. Then there are those times when you are genuinely shocked. It's like it's a game with this little person. For a while you kind of do feel like you are their defensive lineman and they are running offense with none other but The World. They feel it is their job, I guess, to test out gravity Every day--to make sure that what hurt yesterday does, in fact Still hurt today. I want to know when that memory of pain starts sticking. I mean, Really, because it will make my job much easier.
   My daughter, 2 yrs. old at this point has been very fortunate when it comes to physical accidents and injury. She went to the ER only once, so far, about 6 wks. ago. She slipped while jumping on the couch (which we forbid) and landed on her brow with all her weight on the edge of the coffee table. She had put her hands out but the airspace between the couch and coffee table failed to brace her fall. She turned out to be fine, but looked like a Klingon for about a week. She told the dramatic story over and over for a few weeks, but now she has managed to forget about the event as we are back to stoping her from hurting herself and reminding her of the trauma. It's funny and not so funny.
   I was talking recently with a mother who has several little ones of her own about my plight and she said, "It's amazing how long it actually takes for them to put it together.... Much longer than you'd think." This was not really what I wanted to hear, but I was thankful for her honesty, as painfully truthful as it was. :)
   I'm not naieve however, and I know as sure as the sun rises and sets that the 'defensive lineman' part that I play for my daughter will Never stop: the nature and focus of it will change though as she moves through her stages. I'm ready and I'm committed. ...Just wait 'till the suitors come. I think I'll enjoy that role.

  
Peace is what you get when you pay no mind to mind.