Is there an app for that?

Those who don’t know how to do something either complain about it or study how to do it. Admittedly I do both. It is safe to say reading has been a cornerstone of my parenting knowledge. The sweet spot of the baby age (which in my opinion is six to fourteen months) is unfortunately behind us. Now we have reached a terrifying and unknown world of toddler meltdowns, power struggles, and caveman-like behavior; therefore, I have returned to my old friends for help. Right now I am reading three different toddler temperament books.

All three are basic overviews of what to expect and how to approach this new era. Josh and I have many questions and concerns. “Why is he so moody?” “How should we discipline?” “Can we ever go out to a restaurant again?” “How do we not laugh when he throws food?” My reading last night left me with a sense of peace: “The terrible twos starts at 15 months” (Toddler 411 page 21). Whew! Prior to reading that I was pretty sure Hudson had gone off the deep end or we had a bodysnatcher situation on our hands. Thankfully, he is just moving on to the next stage of development (right on time, it seems) and this will only last (according to the book) until he goes to college.

My reading obsession is remedied by the local library. Many great titles are just a short walk away. Plus, since our town has a significant elderly population, I can also check out videos like Belly dancing for Wimps and Yoga for the Inflexible (real titles, I swear) while I am finding some parenting books for me and board books for Hudson.

In addition to our local resources, I am so happy to have found paperbackswap.com. It is a recycling website where you –for free—trade books with people all over the United States. I have sent and received over a dozen books now. My dusty copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autobiography snagged the definitive potty training book Everyone Poops. Some old AP Language flip charts captured one of the parenting books.

I need to get reading. I am hoping to find a chapter entitled “Goodbye little immobile happy guy. Hello little this-is-my-body-going-limp-because-milk-takes-sooooooo-long-to-pour-grumpy-dude” before I tomorrow’s wake up call.