Wreaking Havoc, Toddler Style

Daniel has a new routine when we arrive home from our "morning activity." After being released from the confines of his car seat, he leads me on a wild goose chase around the yard (much to Ollie's delight). Once I've lassoed him into the house, he heads straight for Ollie's food, grabs a handful of it (dry, thank goodness), and tosses it at the dog. I truly believe that he's so excited to see Ollie, he can't control his impulses. Luckily, his impulse is to throw dog food, not to punch the dog in the face. From there, it can go one of any number of ways. Maybe he'll climb up onto the kitchen chairs and grab the salt and pepper shakers. Or he'll begin pulling tissues from the box, letting them drift to the floor like deflated ghosts. Sometimes he'll even run over to his toy shopping cart and upend the whole thing, laughing with glee as the plastic eggs roll across the room.

This sequence of events is Daniel's "chaos." I want to believe that his demonstration of free will is simply a response to feeling cooped up in the car (or his stroller, or a shopping cart seat) for too long. It's his way of saying, "Look, Mom! I can control my environment! Even better, I can control YOU! I'm just gonna keep on going while you scramble to confine my path of destruction to one room!" The problem is, I still haven't come to terms with the idea of NOT practicing damage control. Currently, my instincts tell me to pick up the dog food (What if Daniel eats it?), to move the tissue box to higher ground (Wasting precious tissues -- oh, the horror!), or to store his shopping cart in the playroom (in the foolish hopes of possibly delaying his mess-making for another couple of minutes).

I'm wise enough to know that I can't change a toddler's behavioral instincts. Who am I to stifle his "creative" actions? Perhaps the answer lies in changing my own anal-retentive, tidy-freak ways. Maybe if I just embrace the idea of having a chaotic home, I'll find my zen. Ironic, huh?