Saturday, February 23, 2013

Inside Out and Backwards


My two year old has been a little sensitive lately. I got home one night from work and Morgan was in meltdown because Grandma unzipped her jacket.  Last night I nearly undid Morgan when I refused to let her run in the dark upstairs.  But I think I see the light at the end of 2 year old tunnel when I tell her “no, you can’t have the candy in Daddy’s drawer”  and instead of throwing herself on the floor, she looks down and says “I’m sad” then goes in her time out corner for a moment to compose herself. 

It must not be easy being two and a half years old.   Your words haven’t quite caught up to what you can think and feel and everyone is more powerful than you.  I woke up yesterday morning and decided that if more power was what Morgan wanted, than that’s what I’d give her.  No more struggles over getting her socks on the right spot on her ankles—she could put the socks on herself.  And her underwear and her pants.  I didn't even hover when she got dressed. I cleaned my room, peeking now again to make sure she wasn't evading the whole project.  But she was intent, and showed off each step of the process.  I wanted to suggest she change her underwear when I saw she had managed to put them on inside out and backwards, but she was happy.  I didn't have to wear them like that, so I let it go.

The rest of the day was idyllic.  She fell asleep for her nap while I was reading her a fairy tale, we painted in the afternoon, went for a walk, and baked a cake. 

And she never once complained about her underwear.

2 comments:

  1. You just exemplified the Taoist teaching of seeing the other side's point of view and then being able to resolve a situation. There's a whole chi-kung around it (which I'm way too rusty to remember well).

    But I'm in admiration, and very glad for you--sounds like you uncovered a wonderful tool that will make everyone happier. Now, if I could find a similar "seeing the other point of view" way to persuade one of these dogs to quit whining in the car...

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  2. I'm still working on my dog in the car too, it takes every shred of patience I've ever had...all the challenges in this world helping us to evolve into better people!

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