Toddler is My Co-Pilot

Having an extremely observant 3-year-old is not necessarily always a good thing.

I had promised Connor an adventure yesterday, so we hopped in the car and headed to a park nearby where, if you’re lucky, you can see porcupines. Big ones. The problem was I wasn’t sure exactly how to get there.

Connor noticed, and the conversation went something like this:

“Mommy, why are we turning around?”

“Because I turned the wrong way. The park is in the other direction.”

He’s quiet for a moment, then comes out with this:

“Mommy, we shouldn’t drive without Daddy because he knows the way.”

Oh ye of little faith.

We drive a little longer.

“Hmm,” I muse aloud.

“What?” he asks.

I’m starting to regret telling him he should admire the view instead of having a book on my iPhone.

“Mommy’s just not that good at finding the way in new places.”

“Do you have a map?”

“Yes, I have one on my phone.”

“Well let’s use it.”

As if it were the most logical suggestion in the world. Which it is. 

Stubbornly, I drive a few more blocks.

“C’mon, let’s use the map,” he says again.

Fine. 

“I’ll keep an eye on Finley,” Connor says, as though we’re going to get stranded and the dog in the back is going to need comforting.

Meanwhile I get the map to tell us how to get there—I was close, ha ha, as long as you ignore the fact that I’m going in circles—and we continue on, much to Connor’s relief (and the dog’s too, I’m sure).

I really, really hope he gets his dad’s sense of direction.

 

PS We did get there.  

park-city-skyline


The Gift of the Present

I spent some time reading blogs this afternoon. After a full Saturday, and a full work week, it was nice to sit down and live in others’ lives for a while.

There are a lot of posts right now about choosing one word. It’s an idea that seems to have taken off and there are more than I would have expected. And there were a lot of similarities in the words chosen. “Calm.” “Serenity.” “Peace.” Being “present.” Even if these words were chosen because of their absence in people’s lives, it felt calming to read them.

One other post jumped out at me. (And now I can’t find it to link to. Sigh. Update: Found it! Thanks Angela.) A mom, of course, and a struggle at bedtime. A head, belonging to a child who’s supposed to be in bed, peeks around the door where mom’s working. A request for a cuddle. Instead of responding with exasperation or an automatic “get in bed!” this mother pauses. She sees the moment for what it is—one of many, yet fleeting—and says yes.

She walks away from her computer and wraps her arms around her child.

I don’t do that enough, especially after bedtime. But tonight, after I was finished my dinner, I had the same request. A small boy holding a bowl of orange ice cream.

“Mama, can I sit with you?”

This isn’t usually my favourite request. I don’t really like him sitting on my lap right after I’ve eaten, and at that point I was browsing through blogs again. But I paused, remembered those words and that post, and said yes.

Tonight I, too, was present. I lived in that moment. And in doing so I found a calming cuddle, serenity in the warmth of a small boy’s back, and the peace that comes from finding your happy place in the squish of a toddler tummy.

 

Does this count as lying to Santa?

“Have you been good this year?”

“Yes.”

[I suppose in the grand sense of the word he’s been good. Sometimes he’s very good. Sometimes he’s three.]

“Do you listen to your mommy and daddy?”

“Yes.”

[I think my kid just lied to Santa. Well, fine, it wasn’t really a fair question. He listens to daddy but does NOT listen to mommy, so I guess he didn’t know which answer to choose. Is answering ‘yes’ like rounding up?]

Overall, a very good visit with Santa. Except for the part where he tried to wipe his candy cane mouth on my sweater. (My kid, that is, not Santa.)

picture with Santa

 

 

Creative Kristi Designs

Are you done with this boy?

Living in a new house in a new city with no furniture and no routine and a toddler who’s getting bored is fun. Really fun.

Okay it sucks.

I think I officially ran out of patience today. And my husband is sick again, so he’s not the happiest camper either.

I tried to address the situation by taking Connor to the park today to frolic in the snow and build a snowman, but it was a spectacular failure. (Did you read The Snowman Test of Motherhood? I haven’t passed yet.) Between that, a request to “fix” his Lego monster truck 46 times, and one of those million-questions kinds of days, I had had enough by about 3 p.m.

That’s probably when I should have realized going to a restaurant across town for dinner with my mother-in-law was a bad idea. But no! We had a gift certificate and we wanted to go because it’s a place we like. Let’s just say it didn’t go so well, and that’s why my husband and I looked at each other across the table and laughed when this conversation took place:

Connor: “Dad, why did you give me ALL the croutons?”

Dad: “Because that way you’ll have them if she comes back and asks if we’re done with this bowl.”

Connor: “Did you say ‘if we’re done with this BOY‘?”

free tag[Commence smirking.]

What? You would have found it appealing too. At least the salad bowl doesn’t poke other diners and talk in an outside voice in the middle of the restaurant.

 

On the Move: Sharing a Letter at Letters for Lucas

One day many months ago, I saw a Twitter conversation between two bloggers I sort of knew. They were talking about wanting more comments on their posts, so I barged in and said I’d be happy to give them some comment love. One of those people was Tonya from Letters for Lucas.

I was pretty much a total newbie at the time, so I didn’t realize how awesome Tonya is. I’d read (and liked) her blog before but when we made a sort of bloggers’ pact to leave comments for each other I started reading every one of her posts. I quickly discovered just what a beautiful soul she is (especially considering she was a more popular blogger than I but was nothing but nice to me!).

When I went to BlogHer ’11 in August, Tonya and I shared a room for one night. I would gladly spend much more time with this dear friend, but am grateful for that night, a very long conversation, and the opportunity to get to know her better.

Tonya has a new series on her blog called Letters for You, and I was incredibly flattered when she asked me to contribute to it. That’s where I am today, writing a letter to my daughter.

Yes, my daughter.

Intrigued? Come and visit me there.

Letters for You series button

 

Comments closed. Please come talk to me at Tonya’s!