Life is Sweet

Hi I am Sweet, as you all know, I have a 2 year old toddler named Sven.  I was a former pre-school English Teacher in Thailand and was considered the number one, reliable Tita towards my nieces and nephews.  I can say I had my share of tantrums and crazy kiddo experience but trust me when none of these experiences can compare my immeasurable difficulty in raising Sven.

Difficult in the sense that Sven is such a handful, there is really nothing easy in raising a feisty mini-human.  I never expected entering the Terrible Two stage to be so difficult and exhausting, it is not an easy task at all.  When your baby grows into a toddler, they are like tiny explorers all they want is to whatever they want.  They want to touch, smell everything and roam around on their own.  Even if you want them to stay tiny forever but this stage is such a monumental change in their growing years because they start to morph into tiny adults and in the long run, you learn a thing or two with them.  

So how did I managed to raise Sven and how am I surviving halfway through the Terrible Two stage?

Managing a tiny human who has tantrums every now and then is pretty exhausting and I’m sure all moms can agree with me.  But somewhere along the way, I think I am doing a great job in raising Sven, it may not be perfect but manaeagable.  For me, there is no right or wrong way on how to raise a toddler, as long as their well supplemented with attention, you give them time to develop and hone their skills, you give them room to grow, I guess you as a parent is doing a good job already.

But for me, raising Sven is always an adventure.  So many great moments that I wish I can record forever, so many awe-inspiring times and how amazed I am when he began to start talking and connecting his words and coming up with expressions correctly.  Like one time, when Sven was playing with his toy and he just left it on the floor.  I picked it up and put it inside his toy box, the first thing he said to me was “Huh? Where is it? Where is toy?”  I particularly don’t remember him teaching those lines, and when he found them inside his toy box he shouted with glee, “Mommy I found it!” seriously when did that happen?  When did Sven compose complete sentences?  

Now here are some realisations and insights that I’ve learned while raising Sven.

1. Toddlers can be gymnasts, they will climb whatever they want and jump as if they won’t hurt themselves in the process.  Sven loves climbing varieties of things, our sofa, the stairs, the railings, the table, the chairs, the cabinet drawers and more.  It’s like commando for him.  Sven mastered the stairs on his own because we just allowed him to play with it when he was mastering his balancing skill.  But sometimes you must set limits and let them understand that climbing is okay as long as they are not 5-10 feet off the ground and ready to make a stunt.  
2. Your stuff is more interesting than their toys.  Have you experience that?  Sven loves my purse more than his toy box.  He loves to check my messy bag and get hold of whatever may interest him.  He may play with his toys for a few minutes but he gets back in scavenging my bag for more interesting stuff.  If it is important to you and if it’s breakable or expensive sometimes it triggers their brain and they get to notice it and go after these things.  You might want to think if your toddler is half psychic or not?
3. Tantrums and meltdowns is annoying, embarrassing but it does not reflect of what kind of parent you are.  I let Sven cry when we go out together but my Mom seems to think differently, I let him throw that tantrum and get back to his self afterwards.  I let him deal with all his emotions on his own and pretend nothing happened afterwards.  I don’t pull him out, I don’t let him stop, I just hug and kiss him even if he resists until he calms down and finishes in dealing his emotions.  
4. Toddlers are smart tiny human.  One thing that really amazes me is how smart Sven is.  He already knows how to play with emotions and how to bargain stuff according to his terms.  They learn and remember words even without you telling or teaching them.  And they are quite a great problem solver.  I remember Sven getting stuck in a chair, he first called out my name but I didn’t gave in, I just let him figure out by himself and amazingly he did.  Toddlers clever minds are just so amazing and you better start to worry when they become suspiciously quiet sitting around the corner.
5. Sven is a natural comedian, I always get that comment from strangers, friends or followers who watches my Instagram stories or YouTube videos.  They find Sven funny even if he doesn’t even know he is funny.  I guess being on this age, Sven recognises the attention and he acknowledges it by just making faces that sure crack us up.  And I’ve learned that as Sven grows, he leaves an interesting impression to everyone and everyone adores this side of him.
6. It’s always a mess with blood.  I’m not saying morbid blood but tiny bruises and wounds, hey!  I have a boy and you know how boys think.  Sven sometimes get rough and he make sure no one can stop him.  He climbs, jump, crawl like a stunt man.  I can’t remember how many times Sven bump his head but the worst incident was when he hit his head on our centre table.  I wasn’t squealing about the blood but I was terrified about his good condition, good thing it wasn’t that serious.  

Times like this is a struggle and you constantly want a break from everything but these are also memorable moments that you wouldn’t want to miss. I admit it is hard raising Sven but every milestone, every hug and kiss takes all the craziness away.  You always make sure to treasure these moments because before you know they are all grown up and doesn’t want to be kiss or hug anymore.  OMG! I can’t believe I’m teary eyed just thinking about the future, so let us treasure each moment because at the end of the day when you look at them sound asleep wrap in your arms; you always find your centre, you always find your reason and you always feel blissfully happy and contented again.

XOXO,

Sweet

Follow me on:

@sweetvselma on Instagram

@sweetvselma on Twitter

MyPensandLens on Facebook

Sweet Veloso-Selma  on YouTube