Five things only moms of four-year-olds understand
We’ve made it through the terrible twos (which really aren’t that bad), the terrible threes (which really are that bad) and we find ourselves smack in the middle of the effing fours (which make me want to drink and say lots of bad words). The preschool years are messy, exhausting, and whiz by all too quickly. Here are a few fun “fournado-isms” you may recognize:
1. You have zero expectations of peeing alone when your kid is awake (unless Disney Junior is on or duct tape is involved.)
Any child under age five has built-in radar that alerts him when you need to use the john. It doesn’t matter that he’s completely absorbed in his Legos (or whatever sharp plastic toy that’s managed to hold his attention for more than 30 seconds.) If you need to pee, he becomes all about you and wants to hold court at your throne…literally.
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2. It adds a little something special to your day when you have a potty cheering section (one kid counts as a cheering section.)
If you’re feeling kind of meh about your day, the affirmation of “good job, mommy, you didn’t pee your pants” can do wonders for your self-esteem. And let’s be real…some days, not peeing your pants is one of the high points.
3. You have entire conversations with your partner in spelled out words. You might even find yourself asking hubby if he wants to have s-e-x when the kids aren't anywhere in earshot.
I figure we have a few more years before we’ll have to switch to Pig Latin or Morse code but the kiddie talk has really taken over. I’ll excuse myself to “go potty” when there are no kiddos around and hubs recently told me he was ready for “night-night.” We’ve lost any shred of hipness we ever had (and that wasn’t much.)
And seriously, if I ask my husband if he's interested in s-e-x, I don't care where the kids are in the house. They can be fast asleep but they have super power and sense any and all signs of impending parental nooky and will be on top of you in an instant…which probably isn't the kind of “on top” you had in mind.
4. You claim sleeping past 6 a.m. is completely over-rated (only because you know it won’t happen in your foreseeable future.)
You say stuff like “oh, I can get soooo much accomplished when I’m not lounging around in bed ‘till nine,” or “I guess it’s fine for some people to sleep past noon but I’d feel so unproductive if I did that.”
Whatever.
You know you’d love an extra hour or four of snooze time if your kid didn’t whine for Fruity Pebbles and Dora at the ass crack of dawn. Any critique on late-risers is just you being a little bit of a hater (and that’s okay.)
You secretly love the fact that you can sing geeky kid’s songs any time you want
My personal favorites are “Love is an Open Door” from Frozen and the “Hot Diggity Dog” song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Because I drag two little kids around with me, spontaneously bursting in to song in the middle of Target is perfectly acceptable. I get funny looks when I start belting out “Bubble Bubble Bubble Guppy Guppy Guppies” when I’m not with the kids, though. Not that I do that. Ahem.
So there you have it. From potty parties to socially acceptable public songfests, life with small humans always keeps things interesting.
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OMG!! The spelling everything out….all.the.time!
Right? Thank goodness it isn’t just us!
This is so true. Especially the peeing with an audience part. And then my girls said to me yesterday, “Do you want to take a bath with us Mommy?” Um no thanks. Ugh. At least they don’t poop on the carpet anymore.
Yay! Congratulations on the no more carpet poop! There should be a Hallmark card for that!
Oh, all so true! And these years, as tough as they can be, do fly by SO QUICKLY. I often yearn to have them back. But, only for a little while. 🙂
I know….I really try to savor the days. But I really hate Frozen by now and I really just want to go to the can by myself. You know? Just one time!
All of these things! I really struggle with the toddler-preschool years.
I’ve had one preschooler in the house for like 8 years it seems like. How is that possible? Anyway, I’m tired, and I spell all the time. And, yes. This is perfect. 🙂
Ah! The good old days! Never peeing alone and spelling out all the words. Mine are older now and still have the ‘mom is in the bathroom’ radar, they just know they’ll get something thrown at them now. As for the spelling, I wish that still worked, especially in the car!
those days are partially over for me. I only see some of it when the granddaughter visits.
I understand the bathroom part! I was in there today and the Nugget was actually laid down and napping but there my husband is talking about his day holding a ferret while one cat is right in front of me trying to talk momma into letting her sit on my lap and the other blasted cat perched on the edge of the counter an inch away from my face looking into my soul. Can’t. Do. Nuthin. Alone.
Oh there are just so many. One of which being you might have a preschooler if you forget all your smart thoughts, because that just happened to me. 🙂
hahahaha!!! ‘Do you want a ‘C-O-O-K-I-E-?’ LOLLLLLL I try to do that with my husband and I must spell way too fast because my spelling words out is always met with a really strange face on his part. Or wait….maybe I spell everything incorrectly….. I do see a lot of autocorrect on my Mac and my iPhone when I type….. hmmmm
What is UP with two not being that bad and three being awful? Somebody needs to rename the terrible twos and warn us!
The spelling out words really had me laughing! Oh, the adventures we have with our toddler around…
As the mom of a preschooler, may I say a resounding YES! to this! Nailed it. And once again– I’m SO glad I found your blog! You’re fantastic!
Now that I see these all typed out, it’s sad. These are all so true. Our oldest is 7 and we still can spell words around her – we just spell them really fast!
Yes to every. single. one.!! Especially spelling things out… My youngest is seven and I still catch myself doing that and he’ll look at me like I’m crazy and then remind me that he knows how to spell now. Haha