I know that two year olds get a bad rap. Their emotions are very strong & they want to be in charge, but the simple thought of being in charge is frightening. I keep telling Ryan how she has been laughing so much more lately. It's like everything has just become very intense. All of her feelings are bigger. Somedays she'll just walk around the house cracking up & other times she'll start crying & struggle to calm down. This journey into toddlerhood has only begun for us. I have some deep waters ahead to navigate & with that I have a few goals & intentions as her mommy. No matter what I hope to be a her safe place, where she knows she can come for comfort & calm. I don't want her to ever feel like her tears are anything to be ashamed about. All of her emotions are worthy. I want to encourage her to feel it all, because that is a lesson I learned much later in life. To be able to accept every season of my life, versus resisting sadness, has made my life feel much fuller. I read somewhere that toddlers are meant to test us, if they haven't then they've failed at toddlerhood. Testing behavior is normal & healthy.
If you're navigating toddlerhood with me, then I have three encouraging resources to share with you. They're so good & worth your time.
Janet Lansbury: She has Podcasts called Unruffled. While driving or doing chores around the house you can play her Podcasts & finish feeling very refreshed as a confident parent. Something she said that I really love, "Children's emotions can be uncomfortable, even scary to witness because they trigger our own. It's challenging but vital to teach children that all their feelings are okay with us & perfectly safe for them to experience. Allow children to feel, and you'll often notice them turning on a dime: calm, refreshed, free to either rest peacefully or resume playing as soon as the feelings have passed."
Ralphie Jacobs of Simply on Purpose: Her popular Instagram account is full of a lot of good stuff from inspirational posts to Instastories that are great to watch when you are on limited time. She says "You are their North Star!" and I love that so much. It's a simple reminder about our importance & how they look to us for EVERYTHING. She does workshops & maybe I'll get to attend one someday.
Raised Good: This is a blog I've been following since before I had Magnolia. I was originally reading about infant sleep & breastfeeding, and now I'm diving into all the helpful toddler stuff. Six Tips to Be a Kick Ass Parent is a good one about positive parenting instead of authoritarian parenting.
Yesterday this little chick & I went shopping for a few things we needed for her second birthday party! We were out for several hours & she was a happy little camper the whole entire time. With public tantrum #1 under my belt, along with intentional time spent reading & understanding this stage, I'm feeling like a refreshed mommy. I hope that you find these resources helpful & encouraging. And if you have any other tips, books, Instagram accounts, Podcasts, etc., to share please do so, I'd love to hear about them.
And lastly, if you have a stubborn little one, this article will make you feel really happy inside. My favorite part was this: "You want a strong-willed child. Those are the ones who don't follow their friends into trouble in high school."
All the love & have a great week ahead. xo
Wendy
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