Tasmanian Toddler

We have a baby gate separating our main floor in half. On one side we have The Pit of Despair, consisting of dining room, living room, bathroom, basement steps and steps up to the bedrooms; the Safety Zone areas of the kitchen, family room, and den/library/toy storage facility are on the other. We got home and I was on the phone with my cousin while starting to prepare dinner. Cooper followed Justin and Gavin into the bathroom and somehow managed to not stick his hands into the bathroom garbage, the toilet, and/or their pee streams (yes, we often have community bathroom visits in our house…I’ll bet you can’t wait to visit us now).

Once they were done in the bathroom and washed their hands, all three came through the gate. Except that Cooper was not happy about being placed in the Safety Zone. At all. He starts screeching and arching his back. As Justin sets him on the floor, Cooper begins the imploding. He starts shaking his head “no” and screams louder. The head-shaking causes him to lose his balance and he lands on his butt. Cooper is so angry about falling on his keyster that he flips himself onto his belly, still bellowing and turning various shades of red, and starts slapping the floor.

What did we do? I stifled my giggles and covered my mouth (mostly cuz I was still on the phone). Justin leaned over Cooper, pointed and laughed. I think I came off as the slightly better parent in that situation. But only slightly so. I kept wishing I had grabbed the camera–it was that funny. Gavin never threw a tantrum like that until he was three, so I’m looking forward to the years of entertainment to come with my Tasmanian Toddler.