6.04.2016

If You Give A Toddler A Cookie...



The majority of the time I firmly believe that I am a good mom. Of course I have my moments when I question my actions on this journey through parenthood, but for the most part I have confidence that God has equipped me to shape E into the young lady He wants her to be.

Then there are days like today.

Days where I am in the middle of Publix wondering when my toddler became possessed to act like a wild animal who was locked in a cage and has since been set free. While we are literally in the middle of the “terrible twos,” I can honestly say it hasn’t been that bad. I have been warned about year three, but we can worry about that later.

I knew today would be an uphill battle when she threw herself on the ground in a typical, although uncommon, tantrum prior to getting ready for a walk with our neighbors. Once we arrived at the grocery store, things started out okay. Then it began - the standing in the cart and wanting mommy to hold her. Nope, that’s nearly impossible for me to do as I shop from my grocery list off my phone. Because she can’t sit still and pretend to drive her little buggy/cart, she proceeds to grab certain groceries because she wants to hold them. Fine. Another shopper suggested taking a free cookie from the bakery. Because she had been decently behaved – you know, for a toddler – I thought why not?

Cookies are behind the downfall of America. Eh, maybe not, but they are most certainly behind the unraveling of my precious child. We finished shopping and began to check out. While the grocers were bagging the items she kept grabbing the bags wanting to hold them. As I prepared to pay the cashier I realized she was eating something. My wonderful eater decided to chow down on watermelon while she waited. Cookie monster was eating the watermelon - plastic wrap and all. She continued her sugar induced rampage and disassembled my keys and began taking credit cards out of my wallet. It was chaos. After completing our transaction, the Publix bagger asked if I wanted him to take the cart out (I am 99% sure he was trying to get us out of there ASAP) and I shouted begged “PLEASE!” Very sweetly he said, “They are adorable, but can be a handful.” Understatement of the year.

Once we arrived at the car, the real fun began. E wanted to stay at Publix all day (free cookies can be a perk) and had no desire to go home. It got to the point that she started swinging at me. She hit me and I grabbed her hand. Her other hand came flying around and knocked the sunglasses off my face. Disclaimer: I am a huge advocate of daycare and believe the school does an excellent job of teaching and loving our babies. Additionally, I believe that you need to be strong at daycare and have no doubt that this is where my child has learned her martial art skills. This is a newly learned behavior and if we were at home I would have put her in time out, told her not to hit and walked away. Out in public, I didn’t have that option. I popped her little hand and told her not to hit, which I HATED doing since it’s the exact behavior I wanted her to stop. She continued to throw a fit as I placed her the car seat so I left her there without buckling her in and shut the door. While I let her calm down, I dove into the front passenger seat and ugly cried.  Maybe my tears confused her into submission, but I jumped on the opportunity to buckle her in and we headed home before bystanders called CPS.

I assure you that this version of the story compared to the actual situation is told in a much milder manner. To date it is the worst public experience with my kiddo and my nerves are finally recovering after a cocktail (or two) ten hours later. I assume the employee at Publix is well on the way to recovery as well.

To all the moms, parents, teachers, etc., do you have any advice on handling this new behavior (the hitting and kicking)? These actions will not be tolerated, but this phase may result in mass consumption of wine. #SOS

5 comments:

  1. Oh girl!!!!! I am right there with you!! B has already started the hitting and tantrums. Havent experienced it in public yet, or at least not to this extent, but hang in there! You are doing an awesome job!!! Keep the wine flowin'

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    1. Tantrums I can deal with. The hitting and kicking is another story. Maybe we can swap bottles of wine the next time we see each other!

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  2. I completely understand cookies being the down fall of America. These are my downfall as well. You can't stop at just one! Sadly, I don't have any advice for the new behavior.

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    1. You are completely right, you can't stop at one! Confession: during my pregnancy (in the third trimester particularly), I loved cookies from Subway. They even came to the hospital with me when I was in labor. :)

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  3. I love when toddlers are behaving badly!!! #badgirlsclub

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