AND NOW, THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM A 2 1/2 YEAR OLD.

Reminders from a babysitting grandmother/YaYa:


—Bedtime should not be at the end of the day when everyone is exhausted! All that cuddle and ritual and book after deadly book needs morning energy.

—Anyone who thinks they don't pray, will if they can't get that darn little person to take a nap as the oxygen beckons just out of reach

—Building  a tight routine is excruciatingly boring and doesn't work when you most need it.  Chaos is only slightly worse

—Peak moments of toilet training only happen when you absolutely have to be out the door on the dot for the most important appointment of your life and you have to go into  Bhudda mind or lose yours

—Repetition builds learning.  Repetition makes you repeat what you wished the little kiddo already knew.  Repetition makes hate your own voice.
Repetition is unrelenting punishment for kid and adult. Repetition only works for learning when it's fun which produces the need for fun games for things that should be dull, like brushing teeth and, which in turn, become deathly boring.

—We all resort to sugar under duress. Thank goodness for bribery with sugar and just a teeny tiny drip of cold medicine when there is no cold.

—Demanding relentlessly really does work.  


—Give-up trying to find the lost "y" for the alphabet puzzle

—Know that you are normal if a heart squeezing moment resets you to "over the moon"  about your kiddo and don't beat yourself up when all you want to do is freeze dry your two year old while you catch your breath



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