Why?

As with how life works, we tend to forget the trials and tribulations that we go through very quickly.  This is why after women have had a child they are willing to have a second or even a third.  They forget about all the discomfort that went with being pregnant.  The cravings, flatulence, aching body, swollen ankles, itching skin, sleepless nights and countless other ailments.  They also seem to forget what it was like squeezing a baby through their nether regions.

I have witnessed this forgetfulness on numerous occasions when our girls were babies.  We would be out somewhere and some women would walk up and oogle the baby longing to be the one with an infant.  Or even better watching Julia react to women who would come up to her when she was a few weeks from popping and say how much they missed being pregnant and how lucky she is.  How to get a woman to commit murder 101: tell her how lucky she is to be in constant discomfort!

This forgetfulness seems also to apply to us dads.  I was very willing to help Julia out when we decided to have a second child.  I failed to remember what it was like to live with a pregnant woman.  How my prized member went to being the star of my show, to being dropped from the cast in a few short weeks.  How the hormone roller-coaster took over my household.  These were all things that slipped my mind at the first offer of unlimited action.  Call me fickle but I am a boy at the end of the day!

This forgetfulness amongst us parents also extends to our children.  Maybe we as parents are so forgetful due to our constant state of fatigue through the sleepless nights, and living with humans who just seem to have a direct link to an absolute endless supply of universal energy.  We seem only to recall the happy occasions and not some of the more trying periods that we experience whilst trying to raise our offspring.  This is probably courtesy of our modern lifestyles where we so easily can capture our happy moments with a variety of devices that we have at our disposal.  So whenever we look around our houses, we see pictures of happy contented babies and children.

This clouds our judgement and causes us to fail to remember that the baby/child is not always happy or content, as the walls in our homes and on facebook would have us believe.  We forget that the smiling , sleeping baby also has the ability to cry non-stop for hours on end.  Or that we have to walk up and down for an eternity just to get them to sleep.  We forget the endless debates with the toddler as to why they should eat their dinner and how NikNaks or Mars Bars are not a suitable meal.

We get so excited when our little ones start to display their own individuality.  We forget that with this new found individuality comes a whole host of other issues for us, the doting parents.  Now you no longer have the option of just getting a bowl/plate out and putting the child's food on it.  No, each day the child will have to tell you which bowl/plate will be suitable for them to use.  You are also guaranteed of choosing the wrong one if you have not consulted them first.

This individuality will extend to their wardrobe too.  Mommy would have laid out the clothing for the next day, which will have been chosen after a thorough weather check.  In the morning your little one will have their own ideas about what outfit is required.  Don't for one second think that you will be able to discern their thought process in their choices.  We have had fights about why Bella should not wear her Wellington's in the middle of summer.  Sometimes you just have to let them do what they want or you truly will not leave the house any time soon; a toddler can argue indefinitely.

With Eden my forgetfulness has caught me out.  She has been slowly learning to talk over the last few months.  This has proved quite exciting for all of us in the household.  She says cute things and makes us smile when she says "I Love you," out of the blue and for no reason.  All this cuteness meant that I forgot what learning to speak brings with it.  It brings an inevitability that all toddlers will learn.

When they learn to talk it is only a matter of time before they will learn the dreaded word "Why?"  I had forgotten all about this until a week ago when I was chatting to Eden and she began three consecutive exchanges with "Why?"  Now if she asks me something and I answer then without fail the next word out of her mouth will be "Why?"  When I answer this she will again question my answer with "Why?"

You can feel like your toddler is trying to make your brain implode with this tactic because it will just go on and on and on.  They will even ask you why they have made a certain decision.  For example; I will ask Eden what she wants for breakfast.  She will tell me she wants Wheat-Bix.  I will give her, her requested item only for her to look at me and say "Why?"  In my fatigued state I will unfortunately take the bait and tell her that she asked for them to which she will reply, you guessed it, with "Why?"

After ten minutes of her asking me why after every reply Julia will come into the kitchen to find me huddled in the corner in the foetal position screaming "Make the bad person stop!!!"  To which Eden will reply "Why?" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KAA1B1W