The Toddler Years

Once your child finds his feet, and learns that they'll take him wherever he wants to go, a parent has a whole new set of problems. Your child will now want to roam and explore the vast world on his own two feet. Unfortunately, this isn't always the best plan when out in public, not only from a safety standpoint, but with his emerging "touch everything" skills. In layman's terms; you and the merchants will simply be happier if your energetic toddler stays in his stroller or the seat of a shopping cart.

This most certainly will not make your toddler happy, however. Even parents who have consistently placed a child in a cart every time they are in a store will find that their willful one-year-old will have somehow figured out that he should be able to walk like you.

Since nobody likes to shop with WWIII going on in the front of a cart, there may be times where you will let your child down, but this by no means connotes that the child will be either running wild or running free. Instead, insist that your child hold your hand at all times. This too, may be the cause for fussing and complaining, but also a time for learning. Unfortunately, the time for what will become frequent "let's go outside until you cool down" trips may have arrived.

Also, it's not unheard of for Daddy to ride the baby on his shoulders or to let the toddler loose, but to shadow him like an opposing player on a basketball team.

As with many things in life, the body and the mind aren't on the same track. Therefore, your child will learn to walk before he can possibly understand the concept of "good stranger" and "bad stranger". So until you can begin to reason with your child, the lookout duty is all up to you.

Your task as guard won't lessen as your child begins to understand language, but once your toddler can understand complex sentences, you can begin to introduce the concept of "other people" to him or her.

There's a reason why so many parents remember the toddler years as the ones that ran them ragged. Chasing after your newly-mobile little one will be quite a task, especially since he seems to have such a knack for disappearing. But with a close eye and some extra effort, you and baby will make it through the "Terrible Twos" just fine.

Printable Version