You hear it all the time from mother’s of children under the age of 4. My toddler is driving me crazy! I can’t do a single thing whilst they’re around! Can they please stop whining? It will drive me insane if I have to do this for 3 more years! Help! Pass the wine please! And yet we never seem to know why toddlers drive us crazy. 
Yes mums! We’ve all been there! From the time when they start moving on their own we are in a constant hyper vigilant state of watching what they might get into next, finding out that they can now reach higher than they could yesterday and more redesigning of the house needs to take place. Planning if it’s easier to just get rid of everything in the house or just move to somewhere bigger where they can be confined to an entire room by themselves. There are good reasons why toddlers drive us crazy though. Let me explain!toddlers drive us crazy
Why do toddlers do these crazy things?
Well, it’s actually all part of their development to want to explore and test out these new things they can do. If I grab this basket, it falls down on top of me. Wow! Let’s do that again! Hey mummy! What’s with taking it away? I’ve just discovered this cool new concept…I think I’ll call it falling down. Okay, let’s go see if I can make something else fall down.
I call my little toddler an explorer as she’s not content to sit and play with the boys at mother’s group. She has to go test out the bubblers…all 4 of them! To see what’s on the other side of the park…then come back to check mummy hasn’t left her. Then off again to watch that marvellous thing mummy calls a swing. toddlers drive us crazy
It’s all about learning
Everything is brand new to the toddler mind and it’s natural for them to be inquisitive about it. Otherwise how else would we learn all these amazing things as humans? Just this evening my toddler stood outside while I took clothes off the line and stared, fascinated with the dark clouds in the evening sky. Something we as adults have seen so many hundreds of time. But to a little toddler, it’s a stunning new experience. There’s things in the sky. Why do they move. What are they doing up there. I wonder what they are called. toddlers drive us crazy
Toddlers are beginning to develop their vocabulary. At first they won’t have many words, but they will understand a lot more than they can say themselves. It’s super important to help build on the words they know, to help with their speech development. As tiresome as it can be to name every single thing your toddler points to in a 30 minute pointing session, it is so great for their language skills to have you repeat those words again and again for their tiny brains to process and categorise. That thing is a cup, but so is that one, and that one. toddlers drive us crazy
Plus toddlers are so very impressionable! They are like tiny sponges that can soak up everything around them, and then try to repeat that word/action by themselves. I’m constantly reminding my husband to watch his language when around little Ellie, as I know how children can so easily pick up that one word you really don’t want them repeating to the entire world. And though you know that if you don’t make a fuss about it, it might not be a repeated event, they seem to have a knack of catching you off guard. Oh my goodness! What word did she just say to that old man! I am so embarrassed! toddlers drive us crazy
Now for some skills
This impressionable stage helps the toddler learn a lot of skills they need in life…and maybe a few we wish they didn’t learn. From the start they watch parent’s faces. They watch us eat our food, and eventually we let them have a go at that stuff. Of course shoving a whole handful of chips into her mouth is not what you expect them to pick up (hubby to blame again!) And does anyone know a toddler who does not mimic a phone conversation on any item they can find around the house. Our little one even mimics her father’s speech patterns to a tee! toddlers drive us crazy
One skill I didn’t think my toddler would pick up so quickly was trying to play the chanter of a bagpipe. Hubby plays it one time, yes, one time for her. For about 2 minutes before heading off to work. I go to the bathroom, turn around from washing my hands and find her standing there with his chanter. Making the noise with her mouth as she can’t work out how to blow in it, but knows how it’s supposed to sound. Now anytime she finds something vaguely cylindrical she has to play it like a bagpipe chanter. toddlers drive us crazy
Working out our world
We know that toddlers are not doing it intentionally. They don’t stay up late at night plotting ‘What can I do next to drive her crazy?’ Our tiny little terrors are just trying to work out this crazy world with the rest of us… we have just had been longer at working on it. See I told you there were good reasons why toddlers drive us crazy! toddlers drive us crazy
Looking to the future
In all honesty, though toddlers drive us crazy, at least they can be quite cute about it. Or at least mine is! Nature’s way of keeping them safe during those trying moments I suspect. toddlers drive us crazy
Plus the next stage along will be better (we hope). Or if not better, at least will throw some differences our way!
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Yes! I wish more parents thought this way! And kept a sense of humor about it! Very entertaining, thanks!
So insightful! I have probably said, “My toddlers are driving me crazy” a dozen times this week alone! I enjoyed this perspective. It’s good for me to keep in mind that they’re exploring and learning.
Great reminders, I’ll have a lot more patience with my 3 year old today after reading this, ha! 🙂
I can feel this, too! My toddlers made me crazy – now they are older… Their Intention is not to make us angry, they want to experience the world. Thanks for sharing!
so cute! I was once a toddler who drove my mom crazy. When she said don’t it, I’d do it. Some examples: I touched some chili peppers and my mom saw what I did so she said never to touch my eyes (I did and cried out loud); I was playing with a pea and mom said don’t put it in my nose (you can guess what happened next); I saw a broken glass and my mom said don’t pick it up or I’d get a big boo boo (mom was right, I got a boo boo with blood coming out). I really liked challenging on what I should and should not do. LOL!
I can’t believe your little one plays (or at least tries to) the bagpipe chanter. I’m impressed! She’s a little cutie by the way… so even if she drives you crazy sometimes, it doesn’t matter lol
Yeah, she is a cutie!