Can of Worms

Funny how things are seen through the eyes of a child. I don't know. It's just amazing to me how Charlie links things together in her mind and connects the dots. Some of the stuff she figures out on her own just blows my mind.

There are things we let her do when she was a baby, and now she does them all the time. These are things that we hesitated to let her do before, but now, we really can't say "no" to them. Otherwise the tantrums start. It's about consistency after all.

You see, we are discovering as parents that toddlers aren't sophisticated enough to understand WHY they can do something one day, but the next day, it's against the rules. So Daddy can't really refuse to let Charlie help me wash dishes today, if she has helped Mommy the last two days in a row.

Just consistency... that's it. We've always kept her away from the stove, so she doesn't even try. We don't let her in the cupboards under the kitchen sink, so to her, it's like they don't even exist. It's just difficult to always stay on the same page and make sure she gets a consistent message all the time. Or, what's more difficult, is thinking ahead. If I let her do something that seem harmless today, what will it lead to in a few weeks?

We've always let Charlie hold the A&D ointment tube while we changed her diaper, ever since she was a little baby. Then she learned to open the top, so we let her rub oinment on her lips (like Mommy does) and rub it on her belly (like her lotion after baths). Now, it is not uncommon to walk into the bedroom and see fingerpainting streaks of A&D ointment all over the full length mirror in our bedroom. Just small things like that... that grow.

So everyday, we're on the lookout so that we hopefully can avoid opening that "can of worms" that will lead to a tantrum down the road if we have to pull back a little.

All of this without trying to reign in her curiousity and sense of discovery!!

Oh yeah... all of this AND trying to make sure she sets a good example for her baby brother.