10 Ways To Tell That You Have A Soon-To-Be Toddler On Your Hands

1. The sippy cup ends up on the floor repeatedly until you finally stop picking it up. It took me a few times to realize that this was, more or less, just a game. As long as I continued to pick it up, my soon-to-be toddler would continue to beat it against his high chair and throw it across my kitchen. Lesson learned. These days, I pick it up and don’t give it back.

 2. All of the snacks that you dish out end up all over the place. I’m still not entirely sure how throwing rice puffs and yogurt melts at the dog is entertaining, but apparently it is. Unto each his own, I suppose… The dog’s happy at least.

3. On a related note, you no longer leave the house without a sippy cup and snacks. It’s the easiest way of being able to do whatever it is that you need to do without getting interrupted over and over again.

4. The concept of mobile takes on a whole new meaning. I remember way back when getting dressed was easy. These days, I’m constantly chasing my rolling, scooting, sort of crawling, soon-to-be a toddler around his room with his onesie in my hand.

5. You get screamed at for just about everything these days. Sure, experiencing your soon-to-be toddler developing his own personality is awesome, but it comes at a price. You can say so long and farewell to anything resembling peace and quiet. From this point forward, it’s all about being as loud as possible and finding their voice.

6. You learn what baby-proofing really is. The gates go up and the outlet covers go in. Everything gets picked up and put away because if it’s left out, it’s fair game. If there’s anything that’s important to you, you’ll keep it as far out of reach as possible.

7. You repeatedly get punched, kicked, and otherwise completely beaten-up. For some reason, the realization that such things are possible to do with our body parts is nothing short of amazing. Every time, your soon-to-be toddler realizes that he’s capable of something new, you get to be the test dummy.

8. You practically beg your husband to sit down and play with him for a little while. You’ve been doing it all day and, at least as far as you’re concerned, it’s time for a break. For some reason, playing independently lost its appeal hours ago and you’re exhausted and not sure why.

9. Bath time now results in you having to change clothes as well. Putting a soon-to-be-toddler in the bath tub is no different than telling them to splash as much as they want to. There’s a whole lot of water in there and they feel the need to put it to good use.

10. You sometimes wish that you could go back to the days before talking – or at least screaming repeated strings of consonant sounds at the top of their lungs every time they want your attention or don’t get their way. Removing anything from their sticky little hands seems to elicit the same response.

Are you currently going through the baby to toddler transition? How can you tell? Leave a comment and add to my list.

Written by: Cristi Wuenschel