April 3, 2011

“Me do it”



These are three dreaded words around here. It is a difficult time of toddlers asserting their independence and parents practicing patience. Once the task is mastered and we are one step closer to self-sufficiency that is awesome but in the heat of the battle I wonder if it is really worth it. Maybe I will dress this child into adolescence; maybe I will put them in a headlock and brush his teeth until college. Mason has jumped into the need to do everything himself feet first. He not only wants to do it all himself he wants everything else done the exact way he wants It done.




This is a "me do it" outfit. The only thing going for him with this outfit is the color scheme was perfect. The sweet little fish is technically supposed to be on his backside. Not in front on his business. Nobody should have fishy business. Some of things Mason "thinks" he can do on his own:



  • Pour his own milk

  • Load/unload the dishwasher

  • Dress/undress himself

  • Pick out his own clothes

  • Wipe up his own messes

  • Make his own snack

  • Open the refrigerator and pick his own snack anytime he may possibly be hungry

  • Brush his own teeth (for an adult to brush them it is when he's in headlock)

  • Change his own diaper

  • Wash his own body

  • Open his own yogurt

  • Put his own lid on his sippy cup

  • Carry in groceries


This is only a small list of the things he likes to do on his own. All of them have made or are a potential for making a huge mess. Today he took off a poopy diaper twice. I was cooking dinner and he had been playing downstairs with his brothers when up runs a naked Mason with a nap (napkin) that had a piece of poop in it. It took a moment for me to realize what was going on and before I knew it he was racing downstairs to pick up another piece.



The other fun thing he has been working on is potty training. He really likes to wear big boy pants. He wears them when I am home and has an equal number of accidents vs. getting his pants off and peeing on the floor. The great part about when he pees on the floor is he grabs the underwear and pants he was just wearing and starts to clean up his mess.



If I leave Mason alone for a minute there is a good chance he is either making a mess, getting into something, or getting a snack from the fridge. Sometimes if I am really lucky he has done all 3 at once.



Although there are times the "me do it" phase drives me crazy it is amazing to see what a big boy he is. He is growing each day and is always trying to be a big helper even if sometimes his help makes more work for me. Before I know it we will be past this phase as well. He will no longer be my baby. Today I told him "thanks babe" he replied "no, I'm 4". Thank goodness he is not 4, and thank goodness he is not a twin!