War and Peace

The idea of this blog post has been swirling around in my head for some time now. Enjoy. And then share some of your War and Peace stories with me!

Peace: Hearing that sweet voice say "I need my mommy"
War: for the millionth time even though he is in the arms of his perfectly capable father (who is not currently carrying ?? extra pounds of baby weight around) while he is saying it

Peace: He definitely understands what specific consequence is the result of bad behavior.
War: He tries to use it to his advantage.
For example, he was recently made to sit in my lap during a meeting for some bad behavior. So, he immediately began slapping my baby belly bc the consequence for that is being put down, away from me. The result - He was squeezed beside me in the chair, not down playing, not in reach of my belly.

Peace: He follows direction very well at home.
War: He tries to get away with everything in public like he has no idea what I am asking him to do.

Peace: He is a huge helper.
For example, a few days ago I told him to take his pjs from the living room and put them in the drawer in his room. Hours later, I saw the pjs in the correct drawer! Cool.
War: Everything I do takes 10 times longer because he helps so much. He wads my clean laundry in an attempt to fold like me. And sometimes insists on putting the laundry away in the wadded up state that he left it.

Peace: He is very independent.
War: He is preferring no lids on his cups (read lots of spills) and to pick out his own spoon from the drawer for each meal or snack.

Peace: When not sure if something is allowed or not, he looks up at us with the most endearing blue eyes to get permission.
War: Sometimes he still does it even when we say no.
For example, he will hold a stick and point to the tree. Yes, you can hit the tree with the stick. Then, he will point to a bird feeder. No, you may not hit the bird feeder with the stick. We do this a hundred times a day with probably a 90% success rate.

Peace: I found him in his crib a few days ago "reading" a book to himself out loud.
War: If he was reading that means he wasn't napping.

Life with a toddler is full of extreme happiness and pride and the most frustration and feelings of defeat I have ever felt. And sometimes I go back and forth between those emotions in the blink of an eye.