It’s a hard knock life…for me!

Gosh, growing up is overrated!!! I mean the amount of pressure I get to be constantly performing. Yeah I know what you are secretly thinking, what’s is this baby going on about. Life? HARD!? I mean all babies do all day is eat, sleep and suck their toes occasionally, what’s so complicated about that? On the other hand the normal everyday person might be laden with work responsibilities, school deadlines, family drama, loans to repay, mouths to feed, state of the economy to analyse etc.

I mean seriously, I feel for you, BUT my life is so stressful, it’s just unbelievable. Just walk a day in my shoes and then we’ll see what I’m talking about. Okay so I have the unpleasant task of waking up the household at the crack of dawn, it’s a tough job, but I guess someone’s got to do it, you see waking up people at the crack of dawn gets you lots of haters, obviously my cuteness compensates for all this hate for no one seems to hold a grudge against me. Anyways since Mum is up, then she begins my activity regime. I’m being potty trained at the moment, so after a quick bottle I have to sit on the potty until something comes out. Sheesh I mean c’mon who can go to the toilet with the whole family expectantly watching and every time I strain, everyone scrambles to have a look. You see what I’m the saying, the pressure to preform is killing me. So some days, especially the ones where I’ve drunk my juice I manage to push something out and the joy and clapping is like at a Manchester United game, the family goes crazy, hey is that Mum and Dad doing a victory wave! Sheesh it’s just some poop.

Well then after that strenuous exercise, they try and feed me again, do they want me to poop again? Breakfast is such a sordid affair, there’s no fry up or some lovely French crepes…no no..no.. what do I get? Some mush which was once upon a time an egg, and my mother dearest has to mix everything in the fridge into it in the hopes that I won’t notice. Yeah that stuff is not going down my mouth anytime soon, mater darling. You see the torture I’m put through. After a couple of hours of fighting the enemy, enemy defeated, vile egg on the floor I’m taken for a bath.

That’s quite pleasant, until Mum insisted on scrubbing every crook and cranny, and then dutifully creaming and oiling every square inch of my body. Woah, my legs can only twist so far back Mum. Usually after all this I’m out like a light, but the other day Mum’s best bud came over and then I had to do all this performing crap, clap my hands and touch my nose.. sheesh, where’s my manager, am I going to get paid for any of this? Hey like the supermodels say I’m not getting out of bed for anything less than a thousand dollars. This was just my morning and now I’ve still got a whole day of torture left. Oh woe is me!
 

Potty Training Secrets
 

There's no magic age at which kids are ready to start learning to use the potty. Most toddlers develop the necessary physical and mental skills between 18 and 24 months, while some kids aren't there until closer to age 3 or even 4. Keep an eye out for physical, cognitive, and behavioral signs that your toddler might be ready to give it a try. Decide when and how you want to start, how to handle accidents, when to back off, and so on. At the same time, prepare to be flexible. There's no way to know how your child will respond to potty training attempts or what techniques will work best. Keep in mind that as with most developmental milestones, success doesn't necessarily happen in a linear fashion - your toddler may make initial progress only to regress at one or more points along the way.

Getting a balanced diet
 

A balanced diet is one that contains a wide variety of foods, eaten in different combinations, every day. By eating lots of different things, a balanced diet helps to give your toddler all the nutrients he needs. This means that you don't have to worry about your toddler lacking something essential in his food. The key thing to remember is that you don't have to stick to a certain food to provide your toddler with specific nutrients. For example, meat will give your toddler protein, but he can also get protein from nuts or chickpeas. You can also give your toddler key nutrients in different forms. So if he turns his nose up at a boiled egg and a glass of milk, try giving him a pancake instead. Giving your toddler a variety of foods and being creative with his meals will help to make eating more exciting. It will also encourage your toddler to explore different flavours.


(Let’s face it kids are full of honesty, they say it as they see it. This is a column written from the ‘HONEST’ observations from our children. It touches on all aspects of the process of growing up and how we as parents can improve ourselves from a child’s point of view).

Text by Mayuri Jayasinghe