Who is the Child?

Children are frustrating, everyone knows this. What most people don't realize is that children, especially toddlers, are frustrated. They aren't able to express what they want or need. This leads to problems on both sides.

The other night we were making dinner. I got Ollie's ready before our meal, so I had placed in on the tray for his high chair. I picked up Ollie and tried to sit him in the high chair to many protests. Once in the chair and pinned in by the tray his protests became screams of anguish and crying. He used to relent and begin eating his food, not this time. He kept screaming as if to say, "Hey stupid parent, get me out of this fricking chair that I don't want to be in. Let me stand at the counter like I have been for the past week and eat my food like a toddler you moron!". I'm paraphrasing of course.

He was taken out of his high chair and placed standing on the bar stool at the counter to eat. I was a little frustrated myself by this time and I took his tray and dumped it on the counter in front of him for him to eat. He then picked at it because he wasn't hungry and got down to play.

I had to laugh at myself because in these few minutes, I was no longer the parent, but I was acting like a child. I let a 2 year old get to me and allowed myself to behave the same age. I felt stupid and had to laugh at my stupidity. Sometimes you have to laugh at your failures.

Now, Ollie is only sat in his high chair when he requests it. He does this by trying to climb into the chair by hanging onto one of the legs and lifting his leg in the air like a dog marking his territory. He usually eats at the counter standing on a bar stool and I'm paying closer attention to what he wants/needs so we both don't get frustrated with each other and act like 2-year-olds, when one of us is 30 years older.