Toddlerdom: 38 everyday situations in which my 2-year-old shouts ‘Mummy!’

The terrible twos.

I suppose they're not really so terrible - but they are certainly, well, lively. And loud. And demanding. It's why we love and adore our energetic toddlers (even when they destroy... everything). Recently, over the Christmas break, I had absolutely oodles of time with my four-and-a-half year old daughter, and two-year old son. It was glorious. Lots of days spent in pjs on the couch watching movies; lots brisk, cold walks in the park; lots of eating chocolate shortly after breakfast and reading books and generally being blissfully happy and relaxing together. However, it struck me as quite incredible the amount of times my son says 'MUMMY!' He says it loudly and with all the enthusiasm of a small person learning to master verbal communication. It's never said just once either - the desire for my immediate attention requires him to reiterate my name with increasing exuberance. It's all said in quick-fire succession too, meaning before I've had the chance to turn my attentions to him he's come out with half a dozen repetitions. And while it would be too difficult to list all the many hundreds of daily scenarios that prompt my son to call out for me, I've listed the most common 38 below...

1. When he wants to give me his soother
2. When he wants me to put his soother into my mouth
3. When he wants his soother back again
4. When he wants to hand me his Winnie The Pooh
5. When he wants his Winnie The Pooh back again
6. When he wants a drink of orange squash
7. When he wants a drink of orange squash but in a different cup
8. When he asked for a drink of orange squash but really meant blackcurrant squash
9. When he wants to be lifted up
10. When he wants to watch Brewster The Rooster
11. When he wants to watch Moana
12. When he wants to watch Trolls
13. When he changes his mind 8 minutes into watching Brewster/Moana/Trolls and wants to watch something else.
14. When he wants a cracker
15. When he wants Weetabix
16. When he wants chocolate
17. When he wants a biscuit
18. When he wants a yoghurt
19. When he's taken a yoghurt from the fridge when I'm not looking and wants me to open it for him
20. When he wants to show me a scrape or bruise
21. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out a car
22. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out a tree
23. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out a stick
24. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out a person
25. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out the sky
26. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out a puddle
27. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out birds
28. When he's in his buggy and wants to point out a cat
29. When I've gone to the bathroom and he wants to follow me
30. When I've left the room and he wants to follow me
31. When he wants me to read him The Gingerbread Man
32. When he wants me to stop reading him The Gingerbread Man and start reading The Three Little Pigs
33. When he wants me to stop reading him The Three Little Pigs and start reading Sleeping Beauty
34. When he wants to sing a song
35. When he wants me to sing him a song
36. When he sees a star and wants both of us to sing Twinkle Twinkle
37. When he wants to show me an element of his Duplo
38. When he wants to tell me he loves me (heart = melts)