in a pit... with a toddler... on a snowy day.

So I find myself in the unenviable position of living in a pit of despair. 

It sounds dramatic, I know. 

But I have never been a person who is known to be lacking in drama so there you go. 

I want to blame it on the weather... because February. Grey, rain, more grey, more rain. 

But I can't.

I have to blame it on my toddler. 

If you have never experienced daily interactions with a two year old, it goes a little something like this...

Don't eat that. 

Don't put your finger in there. 

Please don't put that in your mouth. 

Stop hitting your brother. 

Don't climb that. 

Don't sit on that. 

Don't use that to climb that to sit on that. 

Please stay in bed. 

Please go to sleep.

Please go back to sleep. 

Please go back to bed. 

I love you, too. 

and then you do it again the next day. and again the next day. and again the next day. 

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then parenting a toddler is borderline psychosis... knowing you will not get a different result but still doing the same thing over and over again. Because if you stop saying "Don't eat that, don't put your finger in there, please stop hitting your brother," then somebody is going to get poisoned and you're going to end up at the Emergency Room and ain't nobody got time for that! (Plus, you know, you love the kid. So there's that...) 

And, in the midst of all this just-trying-to-keep-your-toddler-alive, you have to plan healthy, home-cooked meals because vegetables are important, and have age-appropriate development activities so the kid won't be too dumb, and read at least 12 books a day so the kid will be an early reader, and limit screen time so they won't grow up to be a lazy ass, and make sure you give them plenty of eye contact and hugs so they won't become a serial killer. 

And, oh yes, essential oils. 

And it's easy to buy a plaque from Hobby Lobby that says, "Excuse the mess, we're making memories" or "My only goal is to keep the tiny Humans alive," but eventually someone has to cook dinner and do the dishes. Because, eventually, you do run out of forks. (And your kids look at you weird when you make them eat eggs with a spoon. I heard that somewhere...) And in the three minute time span that it takes you to put away the food from dinner, your unsupervised toddler will decide to get out of bed create chaos. And when you discover that she has un-planted everything that you planted in new pots just the day before, you will scream and use the words "Just wait until your Daddy gets home!!" Then you will put her in the pack n play and go downstairs and clean the kitchen. 

So yes, life with a toddler, specifically a 2 almost 3 year old, is monotonous and frustrating and can lead to a pit of despair. 

But there's also this... the pink wind spinner that she insisted on buying when she asked to go to the craft store the other day...

So even on the greyest day, we have a bright pink, happy spot in our garden. 

And there's this...

When she puts on her Princess Anna dress and a Superhero mask to play Batman and Robin with her brothers... 

And there's this...

When she dances with her Daddy in the kitchen and her joy lights up a room. 

Life with a toddler is not easy. But strong women do change the world. They just have to survive the toddler years... :)