After a long, lovely three-day weekend spent with my Toddler Tornado I present you with my findings.
New!Different!Shocking! perhaps not.
GoodGoshINeededTheReminder? Definitely.
I give you the six life lessons my Toddler Tornado taught me this weekend:
1. See the world as a jaw dropping wonderful place.
I'm a writer by day and, in a cringe worthy way, I'd employed this trite phrase more than a few times prior to having my daughter.
My characters' jaws oft dropped in amazement without my giving much thought to what this action would look like were it to actually happen.
Then our daughter arrived.
Then she grew old enough to notice of and take in the world around her.
Then her jaw dropped, LITERALLY, in amazement.
At the deer sleeping on our front lawn.
At firemen spraying the fire hose across a gaggle of melting Toddlers.
At a whole watermelon being sliced in half.
At my new tattoo.
We grown-up types may need to employ a gratitude board to remind ourselves of the jaw dropping wonderful world in which we live, but if you need quickfastandinahurry attitude adjustment few things work better than time spent with a toddler.
2. Viewing strangers as friends she's not yet met.
Nothing tugs at my heart more than when we approach the playground, my Toddler sees a flock of kids she doesnt know and she announces: Look mama! Friends!
I wont lie, my jaded tender MamaHeart immediately thinks/prays please be nice to my girl and 90% of the time her new "friends" welcome her with open sandbox-sharing arms.
Why? I can only assume that since she views the world through the lens of Im only here to have fun--not fight! I bear no ill will or maliciousness. I already like you, People, and we've never even met! the other children pick up on that vibe & an afternoon of fun* ensues.
(*If by fun you mean with intermittent moments of reminding them about the tremendous benefits of sharing---which I do.)
3. Being in the moment. Always.
'Nuff said.
Toddlers, while prone to tantrums, don't tend to ruminate much.
Did someone else snag the last tater-tot?
Are the swings all taken at the park?
Those scenarios might be cause for severe heartbreak for my Toddler----but only for a minute or two & she's on to the next thing.
Life is too exciting for her to waste any of it focusing on whether she was slighted in the morning's game of Duck Duck Goose.
She, in her inimitable toddler-way, realizes if she's living in the past she's guaranteed to miss a whole lot happening in the present.
(Suffice it to say I wear the shirt seen here a LOT to remind myself of this trait she displays naturally.)
4. Imagine.
This post was sparked by watching my Toddler play & pretend to be a princess who was also an airplane pilot who could fly her plane down the streets of our neighborhood and pick up friends/pets along the way.
In her Toddlermind there exists no limitations let alone fear of failure.
Whether Im following suit and using my imagination to problem solve real-world problems or taking a life-break and gazing at the clouds in search of animal shapes my Toddler is a daily reminder to me to let my imagination soar.
5. ZERO Multi-tasking.
When my Toddler is playing with her stickers she's not simultaneously watching television & pondering when she's going to take a bath.
She, unlike her multi-tasking mama, doesn't eat her ice cream whilst drawing a picture for her dad & making a list of what she needs at the toy store.
She is, one hundred percent of the time, solely focused on the task at hand.
As a busy grown-up I know I try to jam-pack too many things into my day.
My to-do list is pages long and, as a result, I multi-task, rush through my day, and end it completely exhausted and frequently with not much accomplished.
Multi-tasking sounds great until, at least if you're me, you give it a go & realize nothing ends up done to the best of you (ok MY) ability.
6. Love yourself nekid.
Yes, I said it, but I dare say that all of us (parents or not) have watched in awe as a naked, happy, entirely comfortable in her own skin toddler frolics past us.
I adore how my daughter would spend her entire day naked if she could (thankfully done are the days where she attempts to spontaneously disrobe in public. Good times) as nothing feels more comfy to her than just letting everything hang out.
I know this life lesson isnt necessarily one which would work for us grown-up types to put into practice *literally*----but cant help thinking a whole lot more 'getting nekid' emotionally might help this grown-up type experience life in a much more open fashion.
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