The Difficult Morning

What do you do when your toddler perceives everything as being wrong when you're just trying to get him to school and yourself off to work? When The Hubs already left for work and you're already late? This was our morning.

I wake Buddy up, he pops up.
Buddy: Mommy milk in mommy bed!
Runs into our bedroom, searching for daddy around the corner and in the bathroom.
Buddy: Daddy not here. I want daddy! (Whimpers just a little.)
Me: I'm sorry sweetie. Daddy already went to work. You'll get to see him again after you get home from school and have dinner.
I wrangle on Buddy's clothes, including his bug collector shirt, and he (thankfully) takes his waffle to eat for breakfast.
Buddy: Shirt broken! Points at a slightly darker gray spot on his gray shirt, about the size of a pin head.
Me: That's just a little stain, it doesn't come off.
Buddy: Off peal! Peal hurts! (I adjust the sock around his heal.)
Buddy: Sock broken! (Starts to cry.)
I try rearranging his sock, the seam is bothering him. Eventually, I take off his sock and put it back on and he's ok with that.
Buddy: More bugs! Not 2, more! Bugs on back? (There aren't enough bugs on his shirt, there are none on the back of his shirt.)
Me: Well... There's a TICKLE-BUG on your shirt! (I tickle Buddy to laughter.)
I think we're ready to go, heading downstairs.
Buddy: No pants! No! (Starts to cry. I pull up his pants past his belly button so the leg of his pants doesn't even touch his foot.)
In the car Buddy wanted another waffle, chex were ok.

On mornings when nothing seems to be going the way your toddler wants it to go, remember to be patient and loving. He isn't trying to make you late to work. To him, the world isn't right. He was probably still tired since I had to wake him up and he was hungry because who isn't when we wake up in the morning? It can be frustrating, but keep in mind that a toddler is just like us. We have our bad mornings when we complain about everything, why aren't they allowed to as well? We expect people to give us a little space and extra patience, a toddler should be afforded the same respect. That little gray spot may not mean anything to you, but it certainly means something to Buddy and I will respect that.

How do you handle your toddler meltdowns when you're in a hurry?

Where's Yo Kenny and Other Shenanigans

Buddy's vocabulary gets bigger every day. It's amazing what he knows and sometimes surprises us. Here is a small glimpse into his life recently.

Buddy: Where's yo kenny?
The Hubs: What's yo kenny?
Buddy: Yo kenny! Where's yo kenny?
The Hubs: Is it a toy or a book?
Buddy: NO!
The Hubs: Can you point to where you think it is?
Buddy points outside. The Hubs let's him out. Buddy goes to the stroller, pulls out the bag and starts looking.
Buddy: Where's yo kenny?! I need yo kenny!
Then it dawned on me. Buddy found a lollipop in the stroller that morning. He is not allowed to have candy, let alone lollipops (HUGE choking hazard!) so I said it's daddy's candy and he'll get it when he gets home later. Mystery solved! I put it away hoping Buddy would forget about it, but he wanted to make sure daddy got his candy.
yo kenny = your candy

There is a house down the street that is for sale. They made it nice with fall-colored flowers and a bunch of pumpkins. Taking a walk one day:
Me: I like pumpkins, do you?
Buddy: I like pancakes!

Buddy: I ate my broccoli all up! I ate my salmon all up! More broccoli pease!

Jewish law says we have to wait 6 hours between eating meat and dairy. With all of the holidays recently, a lot of meat is served so at home we don't eat much meat. Prayer services often run late, which means having a late lunch so a dairy dinner has to be eaten fairly late. Since Buddy is only 2, he doesn't have to wait 6 hours. We served his dinner and we ate challah (sweet bread) until our 6 hours was up.
Buddy (eating): Want some salmon daddy?
The Hubs: No thanks. I'll get some later.
Buddy: Want some mommy?
Such a caring little man already!