(VIDEO) The 7 Life Rules From A Toddler

Story of This Life and Munchkin have teamed up to help us out. While the toddler years are fraught with unexpected disasters and challenges, there does seem to be a rule book these tiny humans follow.

If you know the toddler rules, you can avoid some of the mayhem and keep the disasters to a minimum.

Rule #1: Markers never make it to the paper.

In fact, markers and toddlers do not mix. Markers are a horrible idea. Go ahead and write that on a sticky note for yourself. If you give a toddler a marker, you'll probably regret it sooner rather than later.

Rule #2:  If you don't know the animal sound, make it up.

Better yet, get your toddler to make it up. My son's ideas about animal sounds are always way better than anything I would have come up with. I love getting him to tell me what the giraffe says or the rabbit. In the video, the mom invents some pretty hilarious sounds for a starfish.

Rule #3:  If a toddler hands you a phone, answer it.

Absolutely true. I usually alternate between Grandma and Santa Claus as the callers on the other end of the line. My son gets a big kick out of the Santa thing, but usually gets mad if it's not actually Grandma on the phone.

Rule #4:  Watch what you say.

… and what you watch on TV and listen to in the car because they will repeat it. Not only that, but they will probably repeat it at the worst possible time. Like yelling about boobs in church during prayer time. Yep, that happened to us.

Rule #5:  They'll always make a liar out of you.

In the video, the toddler is playing with foam letters in the tub. Mom sees her spell out her name with the letters and immediately calls for dad, but when he gets there, it's a random compilation of letters and her name is totally gone.  I swear my son did exactly the same thing! What is it with these kids?

Rule #6:  If they love food one day… they'll hate it the next.

This is so true and it drives me crazy! It's impossible to know what to fix, so we just keep a few standbys in the fridge and freezer, things like cheese sticks, chicken nuggets, and apple slices.

Rule #7: If they're quiet, they're into something.

While watching the video with my son this happened: As soon as the toddler got quiet my son said “She made a mess.” It's a code. They speak the language. If they get quiet, RUN! You might get there in time to stop the mess from getting too big to contain.

Aren't toddlers fun? Check out the video for yourself for a few good laughs.