80% of the time, ALL the time

The toddler years came quick. I remember the good ole days of spit up, a non mobile child who didn't have control of his extremities and canned baby food. Am I the only one who misses that? Ok. I don't really... but these terrible twos should really be called, terrible 1.5's.

Jacks a lot of things going for him, like his beautiful green eye...his thousands of kisses and hugs...his little laugh...oh and the twirl, clap, head bang and stop dance he does. Those I could deal with ALL day long. Its the other 80% that's tough stuff!

Lately I have been considering writing the city to see if they can enforce toddler only areas. Therefore everyone in that area would empathize with each other. "Oh your kid runs around screaming his head off too?" or "What? You tell your child NO! and they giggle and run away, also?!"

I never seem to learn my lesson from the last public venture with Jack. I always have this false image of him sitting quietly and listening to me when I say NO! So...I take him to get ice cream or to the doctors office. Then reality sets in as soon as we step foot in the door. My kid is the one pulling out all the books at the doctor's office...running around kicking other kids and trying to hug the little girls.

I have come close to getting a leash for him... something I swore I would never do. But all of us mothers have a list of taboo items we would never give to our child, that we made while they were still in utero, like Barney or McDonald's. But truly...its whatever keeps them occupied for more than 30 seconds. If this means coloring the table at a restaurant, sorry servers!, but so be it....

Jackson still holds strong to his dolphin screeches...that make the entire San Antonio population, turn and look at us and whisper to each other, "Wow, he is a handful." I KNOW PEOPLE!! I get it..you don't see the exhausted look on my face? My hair isn't in a ponytail because I like the way I look in an up do... its because he will try and grab my flatiron with his bare hands.

But it's those moments of twirls, claps, head bangs and stomps that make it all worth wild...