Energy in Motion…

Toddlers move fast. Not only physically but emotionally too. My whole world is revolving around one adorable two year old who excells at outlasting all of us grown up people.

When we are too exhausted to do much of anything, she’s not. At the end of a busy active day, she has run-in-circles-energy, bursts of song lyrics and belly laughter to spare.

She also accerts her opinions, her preferences, her every want or desire, along side her protests and disapproval. She changes her mind, before and after she’s made it up. She will insist upon and then resist the same toy or snack, back and forth with dizzying speed. One moment we are laughing and in the next, frustration will overcome her/us. All

She is the tiny embodiment of more. More bubbles, more chocolate, more songs, more running while simultaneously squaring off with a firm no. NO! The sheer power of that word is not lost on this two year old. She’s been the easiest going of the lot, but wields just as firm a no as any boundary enforcing border patrol.

I love watching us all wear down as the day progresses. We all look at each other as we continplate bath time. Just wrestling our compliant little person into pjs seems daunting, but a bath too? We are talking about a very agreeable, helpful girl here. Her favorite part of every activity is clean up time, singing away, she is confidently effeciant.

We’ve just spent hours trying to decode what she has wanted, then not wanted, then needed. We have played and pretended and figured out that when she’s yelling ‘Momma’ it’s dinasuar momma she means and baby dinosaurs she’s play-acting out the drama of, not her mamma and not her own drama, though these do come up frequently enough to confuse us and keep us on our toes. We have tried to prevent climbing or at the very least spot her as she traverses dangerously. Ran with her in circles and danced again and again to Frozen songs. Today we attempted painting, on top of the many messy snacks and meals we find ourselves wiping up after. It’s been another full fun beautifully tiring day.

I love the speed of natural regulation she models. Her quick bounces through extreme emotions. I’ve spent most of a lifetime trying to master something, this little one seems to do with finesse. I’ve watched her fall, decide if she’s hurt, jump up and keep running. I’ve also watched her get hurt and insist on a tearful kiss on the toe, knee, elbow, a long hug and a carry, then get right back down for more running.

Maybe deep down we have a natural inclination to self regulate. Maybe we just need to awaken an ability we were born with, or uncover what experience has covered up. I don’t know. I do know I’m paying attention.