I love this kid, out of all my children, he has me wrapped around his finger the most (shhh I didn’t just say that). You see, he was my perfect baby, the one that slept all night through from just eight weeks old. He was always so happy, never grizzled and was the epitome of the perfect second child they all seem to talk about (first one is hard work, second one you are more relaxed so they are).
But one sunny day in April 2015, when the birds were chirping and our little darling was turning one years old, something just didn’t feel quite right. There was a change in the air, a change that came in and took the sweet little relaxed toddler and spun him around and turned him into, a wild child. Think, Sandy from Grease when she went from innocent to risk-ay, that kind of forget-life-before-now-no-one-will-stop-me set me free change.
You see, I thought I had motherhood down pat until little Will turned one, I thought I could have ten kids if it was this simple, still a juggle but still pretty cruisy. When he changed, so did I. I went from relaxed mum to becoming on-edge, never sitting still and panic mum. Every day was basically me trying to keep him alive from him running across roads, running away in general, jumping of things and putting things in his mouth. He also enjoyed being wet, always finding water wherever we are, whether it is a drink tap, a puddle, a dog bowl, a toilet, he would locate the water and drench himself in it.
One time, we went to the local park in winter, there was a puddle, a big puddle, so big, a child couldn’t jump over it. Will thought to himself, “I can’t go over it, I can’t go under it, going around it is too easy, I will have to go through it… actually, I will swim through it!” As a big crowd of parents stood around him, doing breast stroke, covered in mud in this puddle, I heard one mum say, “where is his mum?”. At the time, I wondered what the commotion was about, what could possibly draw a crowd of adults to huddle over at that side of the playground. I scanned the park to locate Will and then I started walking subconsciously to the crowd, like a magnet, I knew. There he was, a little mud monster splashing away, whilst other parents were holding their children back from doing the same thing. True story and even one of my readers recently told me that they were there that day. Hi! This is why we have a collection of waterproof clothing for him, especially rain jackets. The one pictured above is Marks and Spencer (here).
Then there are the tantrums, they are rare, but when they come, they come. Terrible two’s started at one year old and now at four years old, we are slowly coming out of it, SLOWLY! Will is not shy, he rarely gets embarrassed and it doesn’t faze him to scream for a toy or lollypop or whatever he wants, in the middle of a busy shopping strip or supermarket, then flop to the floor in protest and could happily lay there for as long as it takes, not a care in the world for the starring eyes.
Recently, he desperately wanted a cheap nonsense little toy whilst we were out and about at the shops. He apparently wanted it so bad that he screamed his absolute head off as I tried to tell him that it was actually his birthday in two days and that I had some fabulous presents at home for him that he had chosen. Nope! Forget it, he wanted that sticky slap hand that sticks to glass more than life itself. I tried everything, I got down to his level, I tried to reason with him, lour him out the door, everything I could without raising my voice (we save that for the home tantrums, my neighbours must think I am psycho!) and this went on and on and on. He started to kick me as we left the store and walked out onto the street, he was still screaming. Finally, some how some way, he calmed down and he reluctantly followed me to the supermarket (always at arms length because he is a runner). Whilst we were in the supermarket, he grabbed my leg and he looked up at me and called me down to his level. He said “Mummayyy, I’m sorry”.
That was it, that moment that I knew would come after all the anger and screaming, as a mum who knows her children inside and out, I knew he would calm down, see clearly and want his mummy. His tantrums are rare, he is more wild and adventurous and keeping me on my toes, which can be more tiring from all the chasing but never as exhausting emotionally and mentally after a full blown tantrum episode.
The funny thing is, despite that fact that I am constantly thinking about Will, where is he? will he do this or that? Is it Will proof? What would Will do? Always being one step ahead of him in every way, all of this ends up being such a small part of our lives compared to his compassionate side, the side, the people on the street don’t see, because to them, he is just as they had seen him in that two minutes and nothing more.
Will is the sweetest, most generous, loving and affectionate little boy. He says the cutest things, he is funny and gives the best cuddles. When Josh and I are out on a date night, he is all we talk about. When we have told him to go to his bed for two hours and he ends up sneaking into our bed whilst we are still up and watching tv, only to find him curled up asleep in our bed, we both smile, kiss him and call him our little cherub. It is always the cheeky ones that have you wrapped around their finger, because when they give you a break from all that thinking and chasing and they make your life easier for that five for ten minutes, you just can’t get enough of them
The moral of this story is, yes, some kids can be hard work in many different ways. Us as parents never rest and are constantly thinking, but even on the toughest of days, the good days will always supersede the bad days and it is those days that we find ourselves reminiscing about on our date nights or when we are tucked up in bed when we want to feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Thanks to Marks and Spencer for sponsoring this blog post and for having the best rain coats for my children (ahem especially one) so they can be kids, run around, get amongst it and still look super stylish.
If you don’t already shop on Marks and Spencer, do yourself a favour and check out their collections. The women’s wear is always on trend and at a great price point and the children’s wear is epic! They have everything you need from formal wear, to gum boots, baby onesies to kids casual wear. Their coats at the moment for the whole family are fab! I have linked our looks below and have shown you a closer look on my Instagram (saved in my highlights under ‘SHOP IT’)
