If I am asked about one of the hardest stage of raising a child; I'd mention the toddler stage.
Having a toddler is basically having a tiny person in your house whose favourite hobby is giving you heart attacks. Gosh!
You can spend the whole day telling them, “Don't climb that!” only to turn around for five seconds and find them standing on a chair, reaching for something on the table.
You haven't even recovered from that one when you hear another sound from the next room.
Your heart skips.
You run as fast as your legs can carry you, already imagining the worst.
And there they are...
Sitting on the floor.
Looking completely And when they see you, they give that cute little smile.
Meanwhile, you're standing there wondering if your blood pressure just went up. Or wether they're hurt.
If you have a toddler, you probably understand this perfectly.
They climb EVERYTHING!
Toddlers have absolutely no concept of fear.
They see a chair, they climb it.
They see a table, they want to stand on it.
They see the bed, suddenly they are jumping on it.
They see stairs and think, “What an excellent opportunity for an adventure.”
And while they are busy exploring, the parent is somewhere behind them having a silent panic attack.
“Please come down!”
“Don't climb that!”
“Be careful!”
“Stop!”
“Ah-ah! You will fall!”
You can repeat these words so many times in one day that they practically become your toddler's background music.
And for someone like me that lives upstairs, she throws things downstairs from the holes in the protector.
And please, don't give them a book... just keep it out of their reach..
As adults, we see a book and think about reading, learning and taking care of it.
A toddler sees a book and thinks:“Let me investigate this thing.”One page is pulled.Another page is torn.Then the cover somehow ends up detached from the rest of the book.
And you're standing there wondering how someone who cannot properly pronounce half the words in the book managed to destroy it so efficiently.
But honestly, they are not always being naughty.They are curious.They want to touch things.Pull things.Open things.Close things.Throw things.Bang things together.
They are learning about the world through their little hands.
Then comes the rough play.Toddlers can play like they have no bones.They run.Jump.Roll on the floor.Fall.Get up.Run again.
They climb the sofa, jump on the bed and sometimes launch themselves at their parents without warning.
And every single time they fall, a parent's heart almost leaves their body.
You quickly check their head.
Their hands.Their legs.Their face.“Are you okay?”
Sometimes they cry for a few seconds...
Then suddenly stop.
And five minutes later, they're doing the same thing again.
Meanwhile, you're the one who needs medical attention.
The funny thing about parenting toddlers...
We spend so much time trying to keep them safe that sometimes we forget that this is how they learn.
Of course, dangerous situations should never be ignored. We need to childproof our homes, supervise them and teach them boundaries.
But not every little mess needs to become a crisis.
A torn book doesn't mean the world has ended.
A little bump doesn't necessarily mean something terrible has happened.
And a messy room is sometimes simply evidence that a child has been busy being a child.
One day, they won't climb everything.
They won't run around the house every five minutes.
They won't tear your books.
They won't need you hovering around them every second.
They will grow up.
And perhaps, surprisingly, we will miss some of this madness.
So to every parent currently chasing a toddler around the house:
Take a deep breath.
Your little explorer is learning.
Your books may not be safe.
Your furniture may have become a climbing frame.
And your heart may not survive every mysterious “THUD!” coming from the next room.
But beneath all the chaos is something beautiful.
A little human discovering the world...
one climb, one tumble, one torn page and one adventure at a time.
Take a deep breath dear toddlers parents.
I'm taking mine now.
Parents of toddlers, what is the craziest thing your little explorer has climbed, broken or attempted to reach?
Let know in the comment section.