At the end of August, I drew up a simple calender for September determined to find a way to better parent my misbehaving (or so I thought) 2 year old, Elizabeth. I swore that she was just driving me up the wall for a few weeks. So I put on my thinking cap and made a calender to keep track of her good & bad days. It is a simple system, stickers for good days & sad faces for bad.
I had her cornered, right?! Muwahah.
But, again, I was wrong. The further into the month we went, the more I realized she sure had a lot of stickers!
What happened? I thought my toddler was a little brat most of the time. Now, she still has bratty at times. I mean, which kids aren't?
This entire time I had the calender, I was forced to see the great attributes in my daughter that I sometimes overlook when life gets so busy. As a mother, we think we know EVERYTHING about our child. But sometimes we miss the simple things. Those little characteristics about our child that just really makes them shine.
I learned how compassionate she is. I know, maybe that's a weird way to describe a toddler. But it's true. She loves making people happy. She can sense when people are sad, upset or even sick and tries to help. I've had some weird health problems and one day I was very under the weather. I was tired and in a lot of pain. She knew it. How? I don't know. She took it upon herself to bring me a pillow, blanket and yes, a sippy cup ;) The whole day she was an angel. She brushed her teeth, washed & brushed her hair, cleaned her room and more all by herself. Woah! She's a loving little girl.
I also learned how great her memory is. Now, I have always known my daughter is smart. I realized she could remember the smallest details. Her sense of time is amazing. I say things like "We will go see Nana in 4 days" and sure enough, in 4 days she tells me it's time to see Nana!
The biggest thing she taught me was to step back, soak in her great personality and to pick my battles. I came to realize that those days she was bad, was because I didn't want to take a deep breath and choose which battles to fight. Now when she is making a mess because she decided to play with all of her toys in front of the TV, I don't scold her and shoo her to her room. Instead, I sit and play with her. When she is talking to loudly in the store I don't shush her and get embarrassed. Instead, we play a game and see who can whisper a song the longest.
I'm not a perfect mother, far from perfect. But I learn every day how to be a better one. Who would have thought my teacher would be my toddler..
