Among the many things on the perennially growing list of “Things That Are Difficult to Understand,” toddlers are right up there on the top five.
If you don’t have kids of your own and only witness toddler behavior because of nieces, nephews, and your kids’ friends, your idea of what it’s like is pretty vague. However, if you’ve raised a toddler of your own or are presently figuring out how to go about it, you’ll know it’s definitely not a walk in the park.
We adults tend to forget that toddlers are people, too. People with feelings that are valid. People trying to figure out emotions, adapt to environments, and satisfy their curiosity about the incredible world they find themselves smack in the middle of. It’s so easy to cringe at screams and whines.
It’s so easy to shake one’s head at the sight of a toddler throwing tantrums. It’s so easy to give moms and dads of screaming toddlers looks when they’re in public dealing with a meltdown.
But it’s so much harder to exercise empathy and attempt to understand the root of it all. Toddlers are misunderstood. Frustrated. And still completely dependent on their moms and dads. Why set high standards when adults like ourselves still can’t properly manage our emotions and frustrations?
A writer by the name of Dejah Roman was set on encouraging everyone else to be a little kinder and more understanding towards little ones that she tried to put herself in a two-year-old’s shoes and wrote a stirring poem about it.
“I wanted it to sound as ‘if a two-year-old could say this, this is what they would say,’” Dejah explained in an interview on “Good Morning America.” “Our toddlers have no choice and no voice. We just shift them around. If there was an adult who touched me without asking, talking while I was crying, I would get upset, too.”
The author said her own children inspired the poem, as well as a woman named Maria Montessori.
“She speaks of giving children ‘freedom within limits’ and tells us that respect and kindness must be taught through modeling of the adult rather than forceful practices of shaming, controlling, and bribery.” She also states how important it is to take time to learn about the nature of the child’s mental, emotional, and social processing. “Children are born individual human beings and deserve respect from day one.”
Mom blogger Mary Katherine Backstrom shared the poem on her Facebook page. The post garnered more than eight thousand shares, eliciting mixed reactions from parents all over.
The simple yet wonderfully written poem from a toddler’s perspective definitely tugs at the heartstrings. You’ll want to share this with your family and friends, even those who don’t have kids of their own yet.
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