Challenges

Having a toddler is great, and not so great. I mean that in the nicest of ways. Babies are a lot of work, but a different kind of work from raising a toddler. Babies require a detective super-sleuth kind of work. Always trying to figure out why they are crying, not sleeping, spitting up, etc. Toddlers are much easier to figure out. Their signs for being hungry, sleepy, sick, or wanting a specific item are typically very clear. They make no bones about what EXACTLY they want and when they need to have it. RIGHT NOW- is always the answer. Everything must be obtained right at the very minute they see it or a sub-atomic nuclear meltdown is sure to ensue. You know how sometimes you go into a store and see the mom struggling with their darling child who is raging over some sort of Dora the Explorer toy or clothing item- child screaming and flailing, mom trying to look like she has it under control while really her patience is shot and her deodorant conked out minutes ago, only to be replaced by fear sweat? That was me a few weeks ago with Bright in Wal-mart. Nothing like having to do the walk of shame out of the store because your child cannot get it together and really thinks he needs to have that pair of Spiderman shorts, size way too big and ugly. These episodes seem to be happening more and more frequently as lil' Chuffy tests limits left and right. Example one- Rachael eating a late dinner at the table, reading something with head down. Andy fiddling with blinds and Bright cruising around the futon nearby. Rachael lifts head, shrieks when she sees that Bright is now standing (very calmly, I might add, like he's done it before) on the arm of the futon right next to his dad who was too absorbed in getting the knot out the cord to notice. Yeeks! Time Out for climbing when told constantly throughout the day to not. Parents on heightened sense of alertness due to Bright's rascal-iness. Next up- play time outside. Lil' Bright takes off through parking lot, a new thing. Normally when he does this on the lawn he gets about 10 feet away, looks back with devilish grin and comes running back. Not so lucky this time. We had to go fetch him a million times because he would not stay close by. Good lessons to be learned while on home turf though. Cannot trust child to be safe. And lastly- feeding time. Ugh! The sweet boy that he is- cannot settle himself to eat to save his life. He needs toys, props, gadgets, you name it, in front of him to keep his hands from swatting away the incoming spoons and forkfuls of food these days. Sometimes he wants to feed himself, others he gets bored half way through and wants to be fed. Other times he eats like he was left in the woods for days. Always something to keep us on our toes.

Today was a great day for yard sales and we hit just one- the Mother of All Yard Sales! This family had 4 boys and one crazy, organized mom who kept the clothes in great shape, saved all the directions for the toys along with original packaging. She put the clothes out in outfits and charged 1.50 an item which seemed great given the condition and that they were older kids sizes. We got a bunch of 18 months things for the future and some sweet shirts to show Uncle Kyle and Aunt Pam when they come to visit. Bright came away with some new toys, not that he needed any more- our place looks like a daycare center with all of the things he has.

Summer is shaping up nicely. Now if only the humidity would take a vacation.