Oftenly

Toddlers are both amazing and trying. Tonight at bedtime many limits were tested, and a very long tantrum ensued. We try to be consistent and we try to use natural consequences, but sometimes our strategies seem to fail. It sometimes helps to think of things kind of like the stock market. There are going to be dips, but in the long run the trajectory is up.

It also helps that Maren is hilarious much of the time when she is not testing limits and having tantrums. For example, there are moments when she makes up words that are absolute gems. Like every toddler she over-regularizes lots of words; mice is usually mouses, feet are sometimes foots, and went is almost always goed. But the other day in casual conversation she used the word “oftenly,” and I find myself having a hard time not using that word.

Also like many toddlers, she asserts negative opinions a lot. Maren will out of the blue say “no (whatever)!!” Recently she has been very down on the letter Y, and a couple of days ago we had a conversation that went like this:

Maren: I don’t like Y. 

Me: yogurt starts with Y

Maren: (thoughtful pause)... I don’t want yogurt to start with Y. I want it to start with L. L - L - Logurt. 

Some pictures from yesterday: