Toddlers on crack!

Actually, I'm pretty sure they're not really on crack. We're responsible parents -- we keep our drug stash out of their reach.

But they have been acting pretty crazy the past few days. Last week, if you listened outside my door, you'd have heard cries like these, pretty much all day long:

"Max, no!"

"Max, stop it!"

"MAAAAAXXXXX!"

"Max, I said no! Maaaaxxxx?!?"

"MAX! NO! I SAID GET OUT OF THERE!"

You get the idea. He's a fast-moving, inquisitive little dynamo. He's tall, so he can reach things on tables and shelves pretty easily; and he's quite the little monkey, able to quickly climb anything that gives him access to where I've moved all the interesting stuff.

When I say these these things to him, of course, he just laughs. It's all part of the game. And when I'm finally forced to grab his arms, look him in the eyes, give him a mean look and say, "Stop it!", he cries. And he doesn't stop for some time.

But at least it was just him going crazy. But now Max must have told Talia where he's been scoring his drugs, because she's gone haywire too. When they've been inside for the past few days, they've both been just bouncing off the walls, running around, shrieking, and throwing everything down the stairs -- even the dog's basket. The pull out anything they can get their hands on and spread it out all over the floor. It takes so much energy to try to keep them under control. I can see why so many parents just turn on the TV to take the edge off them.

I also take them outside for a good part of their day. Talia's favourite word right now is 'owsie!' She always wants to go 'owsie', and when I take them into the yard things get even crazier. Max takes a small tub of water and pours it all over himself. Talia runs off into the neighbor's yard. Max crawls through the garden in his wet clothes. Talia giggles and squirms in my arms as I bring her home. Max puts some gravel in his mouth. Talia starts pestering me to get her a stick. I get her a stick. I take the gravel out of Max's mouth. Talia pokes one of the cats with her stick. I take the stick away from Talia. Max runs into the neighbor's yard...

One of my friends is also a stay-at-home father, and a few months ago he told me that kids always get easier as they get older. Each day you can reclaim more time for yourself as your children will require less care, he said. I'm sure he had a good laugh with his wife about that after I left.

They're exhausting. But they're very cute too.

It's really wonderful seeing them in the tub -- because I know they'll be in bed soon.

Posted by Bruce Gottfred at September 21, 2004 10:37 PM | TrackBack