Not So Terrible Two's

We have all seen it and felt both sorry and embarrassed for the mom with her hands full of shopping bags trying to drag a screaming toddler to their feet in the middle of a crowded store. My sympathies to you if you have been this poor woman because, on top of it all, you often have several people gawking at you as they would a car wreck or a street fight.

Dahlia pulled a more toned down version of this once, at J.C. Penney. She wanted to run free through the store and, having no concept of "stranger danger" or the likelihood of running face-first into a clothing rack, who wouldn't? To her, it must have seemed needlessly unjust to be restrained to hold hands and walk at a grown-ups pace. Still, when she let her knees buckle and quietly refused to stand, I found myself in that awful situation: hands full, uncooperative child and a dozen or so prying eyes watching the sweat start to trickle down my face. In the end, I lied and told her that there was ice cream waiting for her in the car (wrong, I know, but it worked just long enough for me to pay for my stuff and high tail it out of there!). Needless to say, that was the last time I braved the mall without a stroller!

Aside from this nearly isolated incident, the terrible two's have treated us quite well (so far). In fact, this stage is one of my favorites. Dahlia learns things so quickly, now. She can identify basic colors and shapes, count to seven and sing the alphabet song! She is an absolute chatterbox and very polite for a toddler, habitually saying "please", "thank you" and even "excuse me"! Best of all, she gets so much more out of her experiences. Cute example: ever since we visited the Atlanta Aquarium (which is a must-see for anyone in the area), she has been obsessed with sharks! She'll ask to see pictures of them anytime one of us is on the computer and pretends to be one when she takes a bath. She'll say "Arrrr! I'm a scary shark!" (We've tried to tell her that sharks don't roar but in her mind they still do).

I can easily go on forever but the point is that, everyday, Dahlia reveals more about what kind of person she'll grow up to be -her thoughts, what she dreams and imagines, what she enjoys and what she fears. I am now getting to know her in an entirely different way and, while I am eager to see what she will be like at 3 and at 5, I can wait because the terrible two's are amazing and not terrible at all!