This is for my home girls that are dealing with a toddler right now.

Toddlers are equally adorable and completely terrifying depending on their unreliable moods, napping schedules and teething calendar.

When my oldest son, Henry, was a toddler, I was absolutely dumbfounded by how quickly he could morph from an adorable little pudgy dancing man in a diaper to a screaming, red-faced, angry tiny version of me over the color sippy cup he received.

I also did not think it was possible to be scared that you might make a child angry.

You know sometimes you hold your breath after you hand a toddler their dinner. You don’t know if they will flippantly toss it off their high chair onto the floor with a high pitched screech or gobble it up in ten seconds flat with a smile on their face.

Pre-baby me would be like, “I will never be scared to make MY KID angry. They won’t get angry because I will be a great disciplinarian with incredible fashion sense and recently highlighted hair.”

Oh how wrong I was.

When you begin holding up two to three different options for a two year old so they don’t get mad that you “picked the wrong one”, you are scared to make your toddler angry.

And let me point out, I think this is perfectly normal and completely understandable. And if you disagree, I honestly don’t care because you aren’t raising my kids.

I don’t give my toddler options on things like which lawn mower they want to use for their chores or how much money they want to spend at the casino. I give them options on colors of dishes, temperature of food that was once frozen and clothing that will be dirty in twenty minutes.

And why do I give options?

Because toddlers can turn into angry little hulks when they don’t get their way and let’s not start out everyone’s day with a tantrum. Because that makes everyone agitated, which leads to a negative outlook on the day before it has really even started.

Over the last three years, I have learned the power of picking and choosing my battles. And letting my two year old decide if he wants to watch Boss Baby or Elmo while I fold mountains of laundry will not turn him into a juvenile delinquent one day.

So to all you moms out there living with a toddler, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They will grow and soon you won’t have to follow them from room to room to make sure they don’t jump off the top of a dresser.

Disclaimer: I love my children more than life itself. I do discipline them. But I am not perfect. I have plenty to learn but no one needs to point it out. I am very aware of my own weaknesses.

Lastly, don’t cry today toddler mom. You can handle this. They are equal sweet and sour. Know that for the amount of time they spend laying in the middle of the Target parking lot screaming, they will spend the same amount of time snuggling on the couch with you giving you hugs and kisses.

Until Next Time,

Jamie