Bye Bye Baby
Pixie has reached the ripe old age of 19 months and the whole baby thing is so last month. This month it's all about looking older. In the last 30 days alone we've made instituted the following changes:Taken away her pacifier cold turkey
Switched her to using her booster seat instead of the high chair for meals
Taken the bars off her baby cage (or her crib to the classical parent)
Taken away her 2nd nap (why, oh why did I do this?)
Bought "big girl panties" which accompany our treacherous ventures in potty training
Bought a $200 carpet cleaner which accompany our treacherous ventures in potty training
Trained her to abhor trash and messes so much that she runs around the park throwing out other people's trash
Given her Spike's old cell phone (she hasn't learned to dial it yet, but loves to say "Hello? Hello? Bye!" in an impatient snappish voice that mimics mine.
She seems more than happy to welcome each and every one of these changes. Except for the potty training (which is "spotty" at times), the transitions have been smooth and for the best. All of this in a month? It makes me wonder what else I could teach her. How to trash talk? How to shave her legs? How to make quesadillas? There are unlimited possibilities. It's the whole "give a man a fish..yada yada... give a man a fishing pole...yada yada.
I wonder if I'm forcing her to grow up too quickly but she's an eager participant so it's easy to push these concerns to the back of my mind. If we weren't planning on having more children I may not be so quick to train her in independence but I can't imagine having a second child when my first is still helpless. Hopefully whenever #2 decides to come Pixie will be independent enough to welcome "it" without feeling too threatened. Does this translate into poor parenting? Maybe, but I get great comfort out of the fact that every other parent out there is winging it so who's to say I'm wrong by expecting a 2'5" person to be totally self sufficient by the height of 3' ?
But whatever my fears are, they are no match for the thrill of seeing Pixie get into bed by herself, snuggle under her blanket and go to sleep on her own sans paci or bars. She can enjoy a few restful hours of sleep tonight before the final rite of passage to independence tomorrow - giving up Teletubbies. This is one fight I will not lose!
She seems more than happy to welcome each and every one of these changes. Except for the potty training (which is "spotty" at times), the transitions have been smooth and for the best. All of this in a month? It makes me wonder what else I could teach her. How to trash talk? How to shave her legs? How to make quesadillas? There are unlimited possibilities. It's the whole "give a man a fish..yada yada... give a man a fishing pole...yada yada.
I wonder if I'm forcing her to grow up too quickly but she's an eager participant so it's easy to push these concerns to the back of my mind. If we weren't planning on having more children I may not be so quick to train her in independence but I can't imagine having a second child when my first is still helpless. Hopefully whenever #2 decides to come Pixie will be independent enough to welcome "it" without feeling too threatened. Does this translate into poor parenting? Maybe, but I get great comfort out of the fact that every other parent out there is winging it so who's to say I'm wrong by expecting a 2'5" person to be totally self sufficient by the height of 3' ?
But whatever my fears are, they are no match for the thrill of seeing Pixie get into bed by herself, snuggle under her blanket and go to sleep on her own sans paci or bars. She can enjoy a few restful hours of sleep tonight before the final rite of passage to independence tomorrow - giving up Teletubbies. This is one fight I will not lose!
Comments
Carpet cleaner...good idea!
I channel surfed across those things once and they STILL give me the collywobbles.