My three-year-old has a GREAT life.
Note: I don’t think my seven-year-old is complaining either, but as she is now lumbered with both homework and the odd chore around the house, I think it is safe to say that my three-year-old is currently holding the winning ticket. To him, he is the centre of the universe, the world revolves around his very being, and we are all here to attend to his every (and each more crazy than the next) whim.
There are moments when I totally wish I had his life. You know the saying “Ah, to be a kid again…”? That so completely true when it comes to toddlers and how they really have it made.
In fact, here are 10 instances where I totally wish it would have been more acceptable to take a leaf out of my toddler’s book for us grown-ups too:
1. Taking a nap whenever, wherever
If a toddler has had a rough day, or is feeling a little sleepy, he will just shut his eyes and take a little time-out to recharge. He does not care in the slightest if this is inconvenient to anyone else, and will not be woken if he does not want to wake up yet.
2. Feeling totally comfortable naked
Don’t get me wrong, of course I love my body (it works, it has given me two beautiful children, blablabla…), but I also wish I could take to the beach in my bikini and feel even half as confident as my toddler does when he streaks around the house (garden/friends’ dinner party/sister’s play-date) in his (pretty freakin’ adorable!) birthday suit!
3. Just spitting out food they don’t like
Eating food he doesn’t like the taste of is incomprehensible to my three-year-old. Like, why?! When he doesn’t like something, he has no problem telling me so – with the sounds and gestures that comes with it. Me, on the other hand, I would struggle to do the same if somebody served me something they had made, no matter how gross I found it. (Thank God for napkins!)
4. Just saying what they think
Toddlers have no filter, which, you know, can be totally mortifying in certain situations, but seriously, have you never just wished you could just tell someone how you really feel without having to be so PC all the time?!
5. Being carried when they just don’t feel like walking anymore
When my toddler decides he is done with walking, and too tired to continue on, he more often than not has a buggy to climb up into, meaning someone will push his little royal behind all the way home. Failing that, someone (me, often) will pick him up and carry him, ignoring the fact that he is now close to 20kg. Don’t you wish it was that easy for you and me?! I mean, just once, I’d love to get tired out shopping or whatever and have my other half go, “Here, love, get on my shoulders!”
6. They just help themselves to stuff
My toddler just sees something he likes (Cheerios, his sister’s Barbie puppy, the last Rolo, whatever) and he grabs it. No asking, no explaining. Sometimes, like when my friend has a new Mulberry bag or something, I wish that just grabbing what you like and claiming ownership over it was as easy for adults…
7. Getting to celebrate all sorts of things
When you are little, life is one long celebration. Every little accomplishment, no matter how random, gets a clap and a cheer and possibly some cake and kisses too. I don’t mean that I feel totally under-appreciated, but a little celebration when I have managed to empty the laundry basket or get hardened Wheetabix off the kitchen floor deserves a little clap, no?
8. Getting fed when they are hungry
Toddlers only have to utter the words ‘Im hungry’ or look over the fridge and someone will feed them. I WISH it it was that easy for us too.
9. It’s their party and they cry if they want to
Toddlers never hold it in if they feel like bawling their eyes out. In fact, they will let the whole world know they are NOT happy with the current state of things. I dream of a world where I can do the same. Missed the luas coz it was too full to squeeze on? Zara out of the size I need in those boots? Some moron bumped into me and made me spill my morning latte? Cry. It. Out.
10. Getting to feel all the feels (and no-one thinks they are weirdos for it)
If my three-year-old doesn’t want someone to leave him (even if it is just to go to the bathroom), he will just attach himself to that person’s leg and Don’t. Let. Go. If he is excited to see someone, he will literally squeal with joy (and possibly also lick their face). If he is angry with someone, he does not hold back (at all!). In other words, he expresses his feelings on every spectrum of the scale. Imagine if we could do the same? There would be less wine drank, I bet.
