Toddler, Tyrant, or Both?

Ah....the fearless toddler

The Writing Mamas welcome this piece from Cassie McCall as one of our first guest mama bloggers!

Ah, the tiny toddler tyrant. The formation of independence and confidence are a necessary evil in the development of the mind. My daughter, Maggie, is currently in the “I do it” stage. She needs to do everything, even if she can’t. “I do it. I do it,” she says.

I announce to her she’ll be taking a bath 15 minutes prior because that is just about how much time it takes to remove her socks. Of course, I try to speed things along with ninja-like sweeps to her heels. But Mags quickly brushes away my hand, stating with authority and a frown “NO, MAMA, I DO IT.”

Luckily, she is easy to distract with gummy bears. But really, who isn’t?

Last night when arriving home after work, my husband John asked “Guess what your daughter did.”

“Kill someone with her fury?” (Maggie has a “temper,” what those in the medical community might classify as psychotic rage.)

I kid, maybe.

John then proceeded to inform me that while watching “Dora the Explorer,” whom Maggie calls “Dorie” she had a moment. Dora is a Nick Jr. animated show in which a girl is faced with a problem which she needs to figure out via clues to attain a positive result.

This, in theory, sounds reasonable. But this morning’s show involved Dora waking up to find her infant twin brother and sister out of their cribs and in a stroller capable of self propulsion. The twins suddenly disappear. Dora, her monkey Boots, her mom and dad race to find the babies and are led over a pond, through a gate and to a giant red hill. This hill is actually a gigantic rooster. They realize that the rooster just needed a friend and the babies are found safe and sound, despite their demonically possessed stroller.

Yes, a completely plausible storyline. At the end of the show, when Dora accomplishes her set goal, she and her pals launch into a rousing song with the lyrics of “We did it. We did it. Yes, we did it.”

My daughter, finding issue with this proclamation, ran to the television to scream at the top of her lungs, “NO! I DO IT. I DO IT.”

And that, my friends, is your tiny toddler tyrant.