Toddler Tales Part 2

I know that I have been griping about my kid a lot lately. I doubt you really want to hear it, but it helps me to get things off my chest.She is awesome but a constant challenge every day.

Words

Lil has a limited vocabulary. Yet, she knows how to effectively use the important words.

The other day while strolling down the bread aisle at Safeway my child let one rip and then proudly proclaimed in her loudest voice 'Gas!' She was very proud of herself and to my dismay she let everyone else in the grocery store know of her feat.

Voicing Her Opinion
Lily entered this world with both eyes wide open ready to tackle anything. It is either her way or the highway. Unfortunate for her that she also has a strong-willed mother who is not going to take a physical (or in this case verbal) beating lightly. Over the last few days Lily has developed something I like to call 'Accelerated Screaming.' It usually starts out as a moaning protest, which then progresses to tears and ultimately ends in her making the most horrific noise I have ever heard come from a small child. I would compare this deep and throaty scream to a combination of a growling lion and a person being burned alive. Not super pleasant.

She has chosen to use this tactic at bedtime, when having her shirt changed and even when she wants an apple from the fridge. Obviously all major crises. She even decided to whip out the scream during gymnastics today. While all the other little toddlers sat sweetly on their mats awaiting their turn to do a somersault with the instructor, Lily decided that she had waited long enough and bellowed the scream at the top of her lungs. The other parents stared at us in disbelief and disgust. I know what they were thinking. ' Wow, I am glad that my child does not act like that.'

You know what I say to these other parents (metaphorically of course because I am a lot more confrontational in my mind than in reality)? So what. At least my kid has an outgoing personality and is not a little dud. Life tends to be easier for people willing to take chances and voice their opinion.

I just need to figure out how to harness her energy and bend her will to my own. That sounded like a line out of Lord of the Rings didn't it? But it is true. I need to learn how to take her scream down a notch for my own sanity and to ensure that she does not scare away potential friends.