Independance

I think the three most bittersweet words from the mouth of a child are: "I do it." It shows that they are maturing, they want to do things for themselves, and they want to be helpful. However, when it comes from the mouth of a two-year-old, it's a frustrating and time consuming phrase.

Kemery has learned this little saying lately. Here are some examples of why I'd like to just skip right over this phase:

*My available time has just been effectively cut in half! I could quickly help her remove her shirt, but instead, I watch her struggle for 2 minutes to get it off all the while yelling, "I DO IT!"

*Diaper time has doubled, sometimes tripled as of late. Not only does she need to wipe herself once I'm done, she then proceeds to sit on the potty, get toilet paper, flush the toilet (all while NOT peeing in it), wash hands, drink (or more like spit) 5 cups of water into the sink. Then we have to brush teeth about 4 times a day. When that's finally done, it's back to her room for a game of ring around the rosie 3 times before she'll lay still long enough for me to get a diaper back on. What used to take about 2 minutes has now become a 10 minute process.

*I'm not allowed to go to the bathroom by myself anymore. As soon as I say "mommy's going to the potty," immediately follow the words, "I come too!" And the race in on! Can I make it in there and shut the door before she gets there? Not usually. Then she feels the need to help me by supplying handfuls of toilet paper, and again her phrase, "I do it!" No thanks, I'll wipe myself!

*She loves my iPod touch. She has mastered the icons and can find her favorite songs (Poker Face and 5 little monkeys). She can play games. She can successfully delete items without me knowing about it until I go to use it. It's her entertainment on long shopping trips, that is, until yesterday when after a few minutes of silence, she asked "Where iPod?" Uh oh! She's right, it's not in the stroller! We race back through Kohl's looking everywhere we have shopped since I knew she last had it. No where to be found! The lost and found doesn't have it either! That's a pricey piece of equipment! I happened to glance down into the shopping bag and catch just a glimmer of silver. There it is! She had dropped it in the bag while I wasn't looking, then said, "there iPod" like she knew it was there all along.

*She loves shoes. She doesn't not take after me--I hate shoes! I hate buying them, wearing them, keeping track of them, and cleaning them up all over the house. Everytime we walk past shoes in a store, she drops to the ground, removes her shoes, and says, "I do it!" and tries on any shoe she can reach. Again, another time killer!

*She hates to ride in the shopping cart unless she can climb from the little seat into the basket over and over. It drives me nuts! Rather than shop, I am watching her so she doesn't fall out of the basket. She screams bloody murder if I try to buckle her in. So, instead, she walks. One day we were at the school walking the track and she didn't want to ride in the stroller anymore so, being the stubborn child she is, she walked the entire 1/2 mile home!

She definitely keeps me on my toes and I look forward to the day that she's faster at being independent, can understand reasoning, and can be bribed to sit still! Until then, she keeps me smiling and sometimes laughing right out loud!