Independence is when a little person's brain realizes that he/she has a mind of his/her own. When a child comes to this realization, they feel powerful. They can do anything they want, without any consequences. Nothing is in their way, and nothing will get in their way. Nothing can stop them.
Addy has come to this realization over the past two months. She has been a sweet little terror. No matter what she does, no matter what kind of punishment, she laughs in my face. Just the other day, I made oatmeal for Addalynn. When I told her to eat her breakfast, she did okay in the beginning. But she started to stir the oatmeal. Then she picked up the oatmeal and started dropping it back into her bowl... while doing this, she is getting the goopy stuff all over the counter, her chair and not to mention herself!
So , I looked at Addalynn and told her to stop, otherwise she would go to time out. She just stared at me. Then she started to laugh. While laughing, she started blowing bubbles into her oatmeal. It was as if I wasn't even there! I told her to stop one more time, again she looked at me, and started taking spoonfuls of the oatmeal, while watching me with no smile, and dropping the oatmeal on the counter. Fuming, I grabbed the spoon and bowl, and while I was at the sink getting a wash cloth she smeared the oatmeal not only on the counter, but into her hair and on her clothes.
I almost went nuts my friends. I did not even care she was filthy, I picked her up and put her in time out. Well, time out did not go over well. She was wriggling around, sliding down the wall and crawling across the floor. I mean seriously, time out was for two minutes and during this time I was wrangling her just to get her to stay in time out. After a minute she was screaming on the top of her lungs as if I was beating her. I was so mad... I lost it completely! So I took her into the bathroom, closed the door, and walked away for two minutes.
At first, she just kept screaming. So I sat there waiting. When she finally went silent, I opened the door... and yes, it only got worse. There was toilet paper everywhere. Liquid soap was dispensed all over the floor, and not only was she sticky, but completely wet. I walked away for two minutes, and she manages to destroy the bathroom! At that point I had no idea what to do. I was lost. I felt like crying. So I sat down on the floor and did exactly that.
About 30 seconds later Addy was crying and came over to me, she gives me a huge hug and cries out her sorries. My anger and frustration melted away. Even though I had oatmeal on me and that morning started out crazy, one thing I knew for sure... Addalynn loved me. She did not mean to start a crazy morning, she was just testing her boundaries. And really who can blame her. After all, she is two and learning about the world and what's around her.
Even though that morning was one of the hardest mornings I ever had with her, I knew Addalynn learned something. She knew what she did was wrong and when to say sorry. I can not say that she stopped pushing her young mind into the depths of open waters known as boundaries, because that would be ridiculous. But I can say, even though she is hard headed, she is sharp and has the best hugs in the world. Ones that makes even the roughest of mornings better.
