toddler moments

I have determined the absolute worse part of toddler parenting.  It isn't the tantrums.  It's not the late nights.  It's not even the constant flow of diaper changes that gets to you.  At least poop has no ability to fight back.

The worst part of toddler parenting is buckling car seats.

If you are a toddler parent, you know what I mean.

Yesterday, I met a friend for dinner at McDonald's.  We sat and talked while our kids played.   It was nice.  When I got out to the parking lot to leave, I had to wait for a few minutes because I was parked next to a man with two toddler aged children of his own trying to load them into their car seats.  I could sense the panicked quickness in his movements as he hurriedly tried to force eight flailing limbs into a minivan.  I don't know what it is about someone having to wait behind you that suddenly makes you feel like you've entered into the car seat Olympics.  I didn't mind.  Luckily, Kate had exhausted herself and was slumped over my shoulder in a limp mass of sticky hands, dirty feet, and curly hair.

His older daughter got into the car with little fuss.  She even appeared to know how to buckle herself in.  "How nice," I thought to myself.  Then I saw the younger son.  He looked to be about Kate's age, another curly haired toddler who had come dressed to McDonald's in pajamas.  He had climbed from the back of the vehicle into the driver's side and was now making race car noises as he pretended to drive.  The dad was doing everything he could to wrangle his son from behind the wheel but it was to no avail.  The child was oblivious.  Toddlers love pretending to drive.  When the man finally extracted his son from the front of the car, the boy erupted into a tantrum of screams and tears.

He was having a toddler moment.

I couldn't help but chuckle.  I hope the man didn't think I was laughing at him.  I was laughing because I had been there.  If I could only be paid some sort of royalty for every time I have been there.  Whenever Kate manages to crawl up into the driver's seat, she assumes the concentration of a Formula One racer and nothing is going to stop her from finishing the race.

I also laughed because it wasn't me having a toddler moment.

I wasn't laughing today.

Today I went to lunch with my mom and grandma.  I go to lunch with them every week and the novelty still hasn't worn off.  Lunch with mom and grandma is my oasis in the middle of the week long desert.  This afternoon was even more special because we were going to the Olive Garden.  I never go out to eat without the generosity of my mom and grandma and I can never afford something as fancy as the Olive Garden.

(Quick disclaimer: I know that the Olive Garden is not that fancy.)

Suffice it to say, I was really looking forward to this lunch date.  We entered the restaurant and my grandma had secured a booth in the corner with three Diet Cokes and a booster seat with crayons and a coloring page for Kate.

And then a toddler moment happened.

Actually, it was more like a toddler hour.  We sat there trying to enjoy our fancy Olive Garden meal while Katelyn whirled around, ate food from everyone's plate, screamed, knocked things over, and generally acted like some sort of vicious zoo animal.  At one point, she threw a gummy worm at me.

That wasn't even the worst part.  The worst of it was her constant desire to stand up and sit down, over and over and over again.  This was bad because she kept grabbing my sweater sleeve to stabilize herself.  I spent the entire lunch trying to eat my special, special soup with the sleeve of my sweater in the clutches of a constantly moving two year old.  I know it doesn't sound that troubling but, for whatever reason, it had a similar effect to some sort of water torture.

Finally, the meal that I had been looking forward to all week ended and we could leave.

This afternoon I had a toddler moment that shook me to the core of my sanity.

We somehow made it back to my mom's house where Katelyn took a nice long nap and I sat quietly on a chair for a few hours.

And then I had another toddler moment.

Kate woke up from her nap and my mom went in her bedroom to get her up.  I heard the familiar pat pat pat of toddler feet bounding down the hall and looked up to see a smiling face running towards me for one of the sweetest hugs I have ever received.

Next, we went to the pet store to waste some time before picking Dave up from work.  I had another toddler moment as Kate held my hand and dragged my up and down the aisles to look at the fish and the turtles and the reptiles and the rodents.  And she looked at them with this face of wonder and amazement and awe and pure joy.

At the grocery store this evening, I enjoyed another toddler moment when I saw the look of surprise and glee in her face when she realized I had searched the parking lot to find a "race car" cart for her to sit in while we shopped.

Finally, we had a toddler moment tonight when she sat down for scriptures, commanded Dave to fold his arms to pray, and gave me the best goodnight a mama could ask for.

Because, you see, as low as the toddler parenting lows can be, the highs are even higher.  All of the energy they use to pitch fits and throw tantrums they also use to completely adore the world around them and the people who are in it.  They love as intensely as they scream and that makes for some wonderful toddler moments.

In the end, I'm grateful for the toddler moments, good and bad.