Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Toddlers Know Best

Why is it that toddlers think they know better than their 30 plus year old mothers?

Today I thought we could enjoy the beautiful 54 degree weather (12 C) by playing in the park for a while after I picked A up from school. A thought it was a fun idea, he asked that we stop by the house to pick up a few trucks and I grabbed our fleeces. Once we got to the park, A decided he did not want to wear his fleece. It may be nice out, but it's not that nice. I told him he could either put the fleece on or go back home, and I was treated to a major tantrum. I put him back in the car, and when he finally calmed down, he said he wanted to go home. In his defense, he must have been pretty tired, because he fell asleep on the way home.
that darn fleece!

The problem is that he thinks he knows better than us most of the time. He has refused to wear slippers for the past year and a half, he wants to pick his own shirts in the morning, and he argues over the dumbest things. He has a book that has a picture of a vespa and motorcycle at the end. When we get to that page and I say "here's the vespa and the motorcycle", he says "no, two motorcycles". I answered, "no, it's a vespa and a motorcycle" and he looked at me with a patronizing look and said "no, two motorcycles, OK Maman?".
According to Dr Karp's book "The Happiest Toddler on the Block", toddlerhoood  is like the teenage years of young children. So I guess he's putting himself in opposition to assert himself, show that he's his own person. Most of the time, I just give up, because it's not worth getting into an argument over a vespa with a two-year-old. I stick it out when it's important (like the fleece). Basically, I pick my battles and hopefully sometime soon, he'll realize that his 35 year old mother may not know everything, but does know a bit more than he does, for now...

Did your toddler think he/she knew everything better? How did you handle it? When did it pass?

2 comments:

  1. Oh, I hear you. We went through an AWFUL toddler knows best phase right before and after E. turned 3. After a couple months, things calmed down and she was great. But lately, now that we're within two weeks of her 4th birthday, the attitude is back and stronger than ever. I heard 5 is a lovely age.

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    1. Thanks for giving me hope! It's really not that bad, after that horrible Tuesday, he was actually charming Wednesday and today... The worst part is, I can see myself during my teenage years in him! scary!!!

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