September | 2014 | Mummascribbles

In my experience as a mummy so far, there are two types of repetition in the life of a toddler.

Type one
The general day to day activities. Get up, get ready, get dropped off at nannie’s/nursery, mummy goes to work, mummy leaves work (he knows to expect her shortly), mummy picks toddler up from wherever she left him, we go home, see daddy, have a bath, drink some milk, read a story (or three), go to sleep, wake up and start again. The only change to this is the weekends where everything is a bit more flexible, there’s no set times except for breakfast, lunch, nap, dinner, bed (and even they change sometimes!).

Type two
The repetition that involves the word more. I’m sure you all know it really well. More this, more that, more choo choo train, more wheels on the bus. And my god, it can be utterly infuriating!

I understand that toddlers love repetition. They love familiarity and feel secure when they know what comes next. This refers to the first type of repetition, where they have their routine, are set in their little ways and all is pretty peaceful.

It’s the second type that can really, really grate on me and is the time when I struggle most with the practise of peaceful parenting! It’s when I really have to tell myself to take a deep breath, and not to lose my cool.

Just this morning, I had to drag Zach away from the bathroom sink because he wanted to wash his hands over and over again.

‘More water mummy, more soap mummy, more water mummy’ he says, standing on top of his potty which also acts as a step. I’m really not sure if introducing him to the height of being able to reach the damn taps was a good idea! Meanwhile, mummy is trying to get everything together for work and nannie’s whilst trying to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t soak his sleeves (why does he suddenly hate having his sleeves rolled up?).

Eventually, I tell him that’s the end, his hands are freezing and I take him away. Cue tantrum number one!

Ok I think, let’s do this more gradually. So I tell him, ok, you can put your hands under one last time, you can have a little of the soap, you can rinse it off, we will dry it and then we will go to nannie’s.

I’m not sure why I thought that would work but after the drying came ‘more water, more water’ whilst he desperately tried to reach the tap from the floor. I simply had to pick him up and remove him from the bathroom in order for him to stop. Cue tantrum number two!

Thankfully the tantrum didn’t last very long and I managed to get us out of the house and into the car without any further upset.

I try to remind myself that this is all about him learning. That maybe on the second time, he wanted to feel the water that was slightly colder than it was 30 seconds before because it had been constantly running (it’s a good job we’re not on a meter). That he wanted to feel the squidgy soap and watch the small bubbles be washed off. That he was intrigued by the drying process; where did the water go? Why are his hands no longer wet? Let’s do it again to try and work it out.

Looking back, I can absolutely see that this is his exact thought process. It’s just at the exact time it’s happening, in those couple of minutes of me trying to get him away from the sink, I can’t help but think that he’s simply doing it to piss me off!!