toddlerhood has hit this little house like a freight train. there is literally no slowing this kid down. he doesn't walk, he runs. everywhere.

there are more 'where the hell has my kid gone?' moments than i care to admit. i might only lose sight of him for two seconds, but that is enough time for me to have an inner freak out. caleb has grabbed his freedom with both hands and literally is running with it. i want to find a balance of him enjoying his independence but also knowing when he has to listen to his mama. i'm not asking for much hey!

when it comes to listening to his mama, i have to hand it to my boy he does listen. is he happy about it though? hell no! cue tantrum and meltdown central. i know it's for his own good, like see that big road caleb? no you can't walk into it without holding my hand. i know, i know what an awful mama i am for not letting you do what you want to do? yes, yes i know it really is the end of the world. there. there. 
as soon as that tantrum is over we walk into yet another hazardous situation and so it happens again.
with more tears.

i currently feel like i'm this big bad mama who is constantly giving her boy a hard time. i want him safe but i also want him to enjoy discovering the world, without my continuous 'no's' and, 'ah ah ah's' ringing in his ears.

therefore i decided each day to make sure i set aside a bit of time to take him somewhere (not too crowded and away from roads) were he can roam free. no mama saying 'this way/stop/slow down', just caleb leading the way and me following.

this is a trip to the park caleb style...


woo hoo i'm free!!!!!!!!!


where to next? ooh hello pretty flowers...


saving the best for last, the play park :)



this little daredevil likes to go down the slide on his tummy, and to think i'd only just got him to learn to sit on his bum to go down the slide. he'll decide. obviously ;)


this was caleb actually wanting to hold my hand! :)


then without any prompting from me caleb decided he'd had enough of the play park and that it was time to leave. so i quickly grabbed his pram and followed. he held onto the side of the pram for a few minutes and then again without any prompting from me started to climb into the pram. no me forcing him in wailing because we need to go, just him ready to leave and content.

now i know all day everyday can't be like this (we wouldn't get anything done!) but an hour can certainly be. hopefully he'll recognise this as his freedom time and will in turn cut his mama some slack when she has to be the boss. chances?? god loves a trier :)

6 comments

  1. Oh brilliant. I must try this with Max.

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    1. can't recommend it enough, what a happy chappy i had on my hands! :)

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  2. Awww, you've got to love them for their spirit haha! We are going through a 'if I look blank and don't give eye contact, I won't have to do as they say' kind of stage at the moment.

    Oh and you'll get there with the roads, William has to be carried across as he completely refuses to step on them. He told his Grandma off the other day for walking on one.

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    1. i love how they don't listen and then when they do they literally take it to the extreme, ah kids ;)

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  3. I love this. And oh my gosh, those blink and they've gone missing moments are horrible. We went off on a daytrip to the beach last week and my littlest one played near me the whole time (he's not that into the sea). I bent down to move his daddy's clothes, that he kept trampling on, and when I looked back up he was gone. I shouted, I looked at his usual hiding places, and he wasn't there. I panicked and was about to call for my husband to help when a woman came over and said "do you have a little boy in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt? He's in our tent"! The little rascal had gone and sat down in someone's pop up tent! Thankfully the lady said she had three (grown up) kids of her own and remembers those days when they just disappear on you.

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    1. ha ha that is so funny! what are they like hey! caleb is forever going up to people saying hiya and plonking himself down. on a whole people are so lovely and are thrilled to gab to him but every so often he makes some people feel really awkward...cringe! ha ha :)

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