Patience is a virtue... or so they say.

Once again, something that I am quite sure is not uncommon with a two year old… I have seriously come to dread the words, “my do it” coming out of Leif’s mouth. I am stuck sitting there waiting for “his do it” for who knows how long. Oh my goodness this could make me insane. Or it could make me the most patient person in the entire world.

Saturday (since we are starting potty training), Leif is trying to take off his diaper as he stands on the stool in front of the toilet. I decided to help it along a little bit by undoing one tab. Harmless right? Ha ha. Oh goodness gracious did that thwart the whole project. There was much screaming and yelling, my name was mud and there was to be no potty sitting. Recovery was (finally after 30 minutes) helped along by a few monsters names Sully and Mike.

And what is the fascination with buckles and clips? Leif hasn’t used the belts on his booster seat in months. He used to scream if we did them. Now? He screams if he can’t “my do it” and buckle them up. His food will go cold as he sits there meticulously working on, not one, but two buckles. I guess the good side to this is that if AB and I eat quick, we all finish about the same time. And waa-laa, dinnertime together!

The buckles on his carseat. Yeah. You know what comes next… I try to sneak a finger in there occasionally, yet inconspicuously, just to nudge the buckle up on the strap so it isn’t 4” lower than the other and thereby completely impossible to connect. Just so maybe there might be a chance for success in the next 3 hours. I usually blame any busted nudges on a need to tickle his cuteness. He buys it.

He is a persistent little bugger. To avoid a complete meltdown I must stand aside while he works on whatever it is. Upon success, he beams, “I did it!” And we have a little party right there and then with many kisses. (In my own mind it is a ‘yay we can get moving now!’ party, but he doesn’t need to do that. It can be all about him.) If we finally reach his exhaustion point (there is one!) he will frustratingly tell me, “My help you”. Kind of backwards, but that’s ok. Yes, I will help you!