Toddler Traits

We are loving this stage in B’s life. He is 3 years old and we are blessed that he is thriving in his toddler years.

A chatty, inquisitive and bright little boy who entertains us daily and makes me smile endlessly. However, don’t let me paint a picture of a perfect, stress and irritant free life. As much as I could fool you into believing the three of us float by on cloud nine without any testing moments, that wouldn’t be the truth.

So, I wanted to capture a couple of the key toddler traits, which can be rather testing at times:

1) They never stand still. Ever. Getting them dressed is like dressing a small drunk person. This includes when trying to brush their teeth, take a photo and apply suncream to their face. It is patience testing to the extreme;

2) They touch everything. Everything from car tyres, exhaust pipes, bushes, body parts, anything dirty or dusty is a must and anything sharp or shiny is a no brainer;

3) They like to run. Everywhere. Indoors or outdoors, up hill and always downhill and especially on surfaces with gravel, concrete and shards of glass. Oh, and whilst we are talking about running, is it just me or do they struggle to run in a straight line?;

Running at its best – Naked!

4) They constantly fall over or bump into things. If there is a ledge he will fall off it, a corner he will walk into it and, if there is nothing to trip up on, he will fall over his own feet!  The lack of awareness is fascinating, they seem to have this amazing ability to walk whilst looking behind them;

5) They make A LOT of noise. Our one never stops. Literally he is either humming, shouting, muttering, singing, squeaking, mumbling some new language that only dogs can understand or, of course, just talking. He likes talking (like his father!);

Shhhhh!

6) They are always right. Well in their eyes they are. I find it fascinating that my 3 year old will correct me, dare I say it, he will even ‘advise’ me at times. ‘You should use the scissors for that mumma’ or ‘Don’t shout at that car mumma, it’s not very kind is it’. He 100% knows when the time is right to leave the playground (basically, not when I tell him) and further, knows for certain when he has had enough broccoli. Oh, and he has taken to ‘Ssshhing’ me!

7) They have no concept of time.  No 5am is not the best time to build a train track and 7pm is not time for a Weetabix! Our toddler appears to live by the sun in the summer quite simply meaning that when the sun rises, so does he.

8) They want to know what the plan is. Is this common with everyone’s toddlers or just ours? He loves a plan. Every morning he asks what we are doing today. If it’s a school day he needs to know who will be collecting him. If it’s a weekend he wants the plan for the day detailed to him. It’s tough at times when you quite frankly haven’t had time to plan a plan!

At the end of hearing the plan, he will then tell me if it’s a good plan or not. Seriously, pressure!

Related posts:

Toddler wake up calls The Terrible Twos or the Testing Twos? A ‘holiday’ with a toddler