Let’s be honest, no one does existential angst quite like a toddler

Enuii is a French word which means weariness with the world.

This week I had to use the word enuii to describe my two-year-old. It wasn't to be fancy or as my nanny would say 'have notions' but more because everything she did had a dramatic angsty flair. Toddlers are a giant box of emotions and drama is definitely their forte. The other day my husband forgot to buy my toddler a sausage at the deli when he was buying some rolls. When she found out that there was no sausage for her she reacted in a way that was less of a temper tantrum and more a dramatic reenactment of Wuthering Heights. She wandered around the house forlorn, throwing her arms across her face mournfully calling for her lost 'sausie'. Add to this the fact that I took out the sausages from my breakfast roll to give to her but she still insisted on grieving for the other sausage she would never have it really is a level of overreaction that us adults can only aspire to. Her teddy and constant companion had also brought out some of these existential crises. One day we for trying to get to the bus to collect my older child from school when my little one remember she hadn't brought her teddy. I had already locked up the house and if I had gone back for it we would have missed her bus so I told her she would see teddy when we got home. She seemed fine, no complaints, that was until we actually arrived home. For about a week after I didn't go back for teddy I was guilt tripped by her walking around once again like she was roaming the moors, flailing her arms and whimpering 'teddy' and 'bus'. My husband didn't know what was going on especially since she had her teddy with her until I explained the situation. She hasn't mentioned it in awhile but only because she's now guilt tripping my husband about 'sausssieeee'. I do envy my daughter, and all toddlers really, their ability to just feel and express their emotions without worrying what anyone will think. There have definitely been times when I've come home from work to discover someone had eaten the food I was planning to have for dinner that I've wanted to walk around the house wailing. Of course people would think I was mad and that's a big reason why being an adult loses points over being a toddler. That can do drama and emotions like no other and I say good on them just as long as they don't do it when we're in the supermarket.