So this just happened.
My toddler didn’t nap the whole day.
Let me repeat this so it sinks in.
My toddler didn’t nap the WHOLE DAY.
Now, naturally by the end of the day, chasing her around, saving her from a hundred precarious situations, and generally going batty and breathless; I was a bit snappy with her. She was showing her tactful displeasure by staring me down each time I stopped her shenanigans midway.
Generally, I felt we were pretty much on the same page;
Me- Mummy: Boss and Supreme Authority to be obeyed.
She-Cutie pie: who needs to go along with my dictation.
I got a rude shock when come evening, hubby walks in the door after work. My toddler is happily (point to be noted-happily) cuddling with me. She sets eyes on him, squeals, runs to him and then turns back and points accusingly at me, her face furious. Her point is so on point that it would have won her an Oscar if it was captured on screen.
My mouth is hanging open now, my hubby giving me a suspicious look as if I’ve tortured her the whole day. Wordlessly, he hugs her and takes her away, cooing to her ‘It’s ok, baby, papa is here!’
I storm after the duo, ‘What does she mean by that point?’
‘You tell me?’ he asks with narrowed eyes.
I launch into a tirade of how tiring it was for me to look after her the whole day, while she is giving me a sceptical look as if she isn’t buying my story. My hubby nods his head in sympathy. In that moment, I’m happy she can’t phrase sentences right now. An evil emoji prominent in my head and then overshadowed by a nervous one, knowing soon enough she’ll have a whole list of complaints jotted down for him to go through and I would be left stammering my weak defence.
So, when does this get easy? Got it.
Salmah Ahmed 