I want to share a few of my struggles and joys of parenting my young adventurous child. I hope you find the humor in this post and maybe, as a parent, you will be able to relate with some of these thoughts. Please enjoy 15 Signs of Parenting a Toddler!

1. Its bedtime and your child is running around in a mad evening frenzy for the last two hours.  You are dog tired and maybe a little sick. Yep – sick and tired! You think – “How do other parents deal with this? I feel like I am going to lose my mind!"
2. You suggest a shower to clean up. The child wants a bath. Then when he is in the bathtub, he wants a shower. Same goes for food – You give him a piece of toast, he wants cereal. He refuses to even touch the toast or have it within 10 feet of him. You give him cereal, then he wants the toast.
3. You decide to have a peaceful family evening while watching a movie – a kid friendly movie at that. The evening consists of playing tug-of-war, hide-n-seek, and jumping games – where the child is jumping either on your head or right in front of the movie screen. Yep! True story…
4. You wake up at 7:30 am and the house is quiet. At first you think how lovely it is that you got to sleep in, but then you wonder if your child is still alive.
5. As a mother, you hear phantom cries in your sleep and in the shower. You go and look at the child and he is peacefully sleeping or quietly playing.
6. You get out early from work and quickly calculate the hours of “me time” that are left before the babysitter has to leave. You have a personal mini celebration at your good luck and may even dance a little jig.
7. You learn to step gingerly around the house or you may stub a toe on a toy.
8. While packing for a trip, you place items into the suitcase and turn around to find more items to pack. When you return the child is wearing your items on his head and the suitcase is in a disarray.
9. You are working in the kitchen and it becomes eerily quiet. You call your child’s name. No answer means it’s time to start searching, the child is up to no good. You find him gleefully playing in a mound of unrolled toilet paper or maybe something worse…
10. You are changing the child’s diaper and he either does the “death roll” (rolling 3-4 times naked on the floor) or escapes running naked around the house.
11. You are changing your child’s diaper and he toots. He laughs and says, “I tooted on you!”
12. You secretly enjoy when he is just a little bit under the weather, because he wants to cuddle.
13. As a mother, you worry about your child’s wellbeing and safety – all day and all night, everyday of his life.
14. You hold his little hand in yours while crossing the street or helping him fall asleep at night and think what a precious miracle his life is.
15. The thought of living without him could possibly drive one into eternal depression. Yes, you would do every moment (good and bad) all over again just to have his presence. It’s all worth it. Every minute…

Did any of these 15 signs of parenting a toddler ring true for you?

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