Things My Two-Year-Old Taught Me: Part I

My bugaboo is quite an easy-going guy.  He always has been.  He was just created to be laid-back.  As a newborn, he was so mellow he lured mr. and me into a false sense of confidence and ease about the whole parenthood thing.  (We were warned, but just kept right on thinking, “this having kids thing is a breeze...”).  He developed his own schedule just minutes out in the world.  Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, occasionally cry.  

So when he DOES get excited, about anything, it gets my attention.  It pretty much makes my day, actually.  And sometimes the things this kid gets his kicks from is so funny.  For instance:  

1. Daddy.  He knows the drill.  Around 5:00 every weekday afternoon, mr. walks in the door after a hard day at work.  This happens all the time, but without fail, no matter where bug is in the house, when that door opens at 5:00 he will yell enthusiastically, “Daddy!” and go running.  He’s just that jazzed about seeing his daddy in the evenings.  (I am too, truth be told.)
2. When his little sister smiles at him.  He has a new habit of going up close to her and saying, “hi! hi! hi!” in this funny little breathy voice.  When she smiles at him, he never fails to squeal, “She smiling!” in a very animated way.
3. His CD player.  It is, apparently, magical.  He listens to music while he sleeps at night, and every time I turn it on for him he excitedly cries, “it working!”
4. Sunshine.  When we back out of the garage and the light hits his eyes, in animation he exclaims, “Sunsine!  It sunny!”  (Although, it has been a cold, snowy, gloomy, dismal four months and that may have something to do with it.  I get a little excited myself...)
5. Train tracks.  He loves train tracks so much, that every single bump in the road is now a train track... The car bumps around over pot holes or speed bumps and bug is rapturous.  “Gain tracks!”  (I’m not sure why he calls trains gains, but whatever.) It’s gotten to the point that he gets excited even when he rides in a cart and we go over bumps...
6. Highways and their exit ramps.  He always points out when he thinks we may be about to drive on the highway.  Then, as we are exiting the highway he gets all fired up and cries out, “All done, highway!  Up the ramp!”  

There’s a lesson to be learned here, I think.  I’ve decided to make my own list:

1. When I finally get to take that 10 minute shower I’ve been wanting, instead of the two minutes it takes to jump in, soap up and jump out, which is what I usually get.  I just smile in ecstasy, feeling the whole week wash away down the drain...
2. Giggles.  When bug erupts into his little laugh during a tickle fight, or when little mini giggles her tiny little giggle when I smile and talk with her.  It’s not an electrified kind of excitement, but it’s excitement nonetheless.
3. Clean sheets.  I just love the way they feel, fresh out of the dryer, clean and soft.  And they smell so good too.
4. Nice people at the store.  Usually, when I come straggling toward the door, I see an alarmed expression and a furrowed brow I’ve come to recognize as panic - as in a  “two toddlers and a baby are coming shopping along with all of their tantrums at the same time as me!” kind of panic - and in a general air of disapproval the person will run quickly in the opposite direction.  Or pretend they did not just stare at me convinced that I am crazy for hauling two toddlers gripped firmly by one hand and a three month old in my other arm.  But on occasion, some wonderfully nice person will hold the door for me and let me go through ahead of them.  That makes my week.
5. Hearing a good song on the radio.  One that will make me sing loudly and dance in my car seat as I drive, and generally make me look like a fool - now that’s fun.

We all know this lesson.  It’s one I think we all hope to learn and learn well throughout our lives.  Appreciate the little things.  No, don’t just appreciate them.  Embrace them.  Love them.  And pray in supreme gratefulness for them, just as bug does at night before bed: “Gank gee ah gee-gee, Oma, mommy, daddy, gank gee ah bed, and baf.” (translation: Thank thee for blankie, Grandma, mommy, daddy, thank thee for my bed and bath.)  

After all, it’s those little things that really make life exciting.














Linked: