My 18 month old loves standing on his rocking chair, leaning over the edge, and pulling out all of his books as I hold his shirt to keep him from face planting into his bookshelf.
And, he loves standing on a chair and putting keys in the front door lock, out, and back in again. Forever. It's all he wants to do.
I appreciate you naming all the things I'm currently experiencing, and reminding me to take a beat and appreciate it all. Even if I'm not horizontal. It's all going WAY too fast, and too slow at the same time.
The tunnel! That’s great. I’m there right now with my almost 3 year old and 19 month old sons. Youngest just got over the flu yesterday and I thought we might skate by with my oldest, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Fun night turned into a fun morning, making pancakes for my youngest when my oldest goes to start vomiting and I dash from the kitchen into the living room to help him only to turn around and find my youngest climbing up the step stool and diving off face first into the floor. One mouth bleeding, the other spewing. The rapid fire prioritization that’s required in this phase is incredible. It’s like a constant puzzle to solve. Balancing in every moment what needs your attention most right then, while planning for the weeks and months ahead, and still trying to provide, be fit, and fun to be around.
"....search out chances to use screen time to help you forge deeper connections with your kids."
I love this - it's one of the ways that I think all parents would all benefit from a more rational discussion around screen time. It's just like TV was for us. Some is okay, too much is too much. That line will be different for everyone (just like all the lines).
One thing I can say for sure: there have been multiple Saturday mornings where watching just the right amount of Paw Patrol with my 3 year-old daughter has brought me immense joy and given us an opportunity to bond over something she is currently obsessed with. Without those moments, we wouldn't be in a position to call and respond every single pup's signature catch phrase together - even when the screen isn't on.
Thank you Kevin for this. My 11 month old's baby teeth are starting to show. My wife and I were discussing how we're going to miss his toothless grin. Infact we're going to miss every aspect of his growth and we're also eagerly looking forward to his upcoming milestones. A conundrum.
This newsletter struck a chord, thank you. My youngest is turning 5 in a couple of months, and we just got confirmation of his kindergarten registration, and suddenly it's all feeling very real. I don't have babies anymore, I have kids. The baby/toddler stage was tough, and left some scars, but now I'm almost nostalgic about it.
I have a note on my phone where I started recording my kids' first words and sentences. It morphed into a record of all the weird things and cute mispronunciations they come up with. I highly recommend it.
I was going to pick just one to say, thank you. But…I feel all of those, right now. Good to know we’re all seeing the same things (and fighting the right battles, and doing things a thousand times and…)
Our son at 18 months had a fixation with keys that lasted for several months, and we resorted to giving him a keyring of spares which included a real car key. I can only imagine how many epic meltdowns that keyring prevented.
One night, we left his keyring in the cupholder of his carseat, and local vagrant stumbled on them while going driveway-to-driveway rummaging through cars for change. We didn't have any change, but he did steal the car and had it for about 4 days.
Our son turned 5 in March. I blame him slightly less for getting our car stolen, but only slightly.
Kid's now 5 for 4 months and seriously the end of the tunnel is amazing. We just got back from our first trip post 5 and were both pleasantly surprised with how well kid did both in general at a new place and for the bracketing 8 hour car rides.
I will miss 'silver hire fydrant' exclamations though.
My 18 month old loves standing on his rocking chair, leaning over the edge, and pulling out all of his books as I hold his shirt to keep him from face planting into his bookshelf.
And, he loves standing on a chair and putting keys in the front door lock, out, and back in again. Forever. It's all he wants to do.
I appreciate you naming all the things I'm currently experiencing, and reminding me to take a beat and appreciate it all. Even if I'm not horizontal. It's all going WAY too fast, and too slow at the same time.
The tunnel! That’s great. I’m there right now with my almost 3 year old and 19 month old sons. Youngest just got over the flu yesterday and I thought we might skate by with my oldest, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Fun night turned into a fun morning, making pancakes for my youngest when my oldest goes to start vomiting and I dash from the kitchen into the living room to help him only to turn around and find my youngest climbing up the step stool and diving off face first into the floor. One mouth bleeding, the other spewing. The rapid fire prioritization that’s required in this phase is incredible. It’s like a constant puzzle to solve. Balancing in every moment what needs your attention most right then, while planning for the weeks and months ahead, and still trying to provide, be fit, and fun to be around.
"This too shall pass" is possibly the only evergreen advice that has always been true everywhere, for everyone. 100% agree, good stuff.
Thank you, Mr Brightside, this was an enjoyable read
"....search out chances to use screen time to help you forge deeper connections with your kids."
I love this - it's one of the ways that I think all parents would all benefit from a more rational discussion around screen time. It's just like TV was for us. Some is okay, too much is too much. That line will be different for everyone (just like all the lines).
One thing I can say for sure: there have been multiple Saturday mornings where watching just the right amount of Paw Patrol with my 3 year-old daughter has brought me immense joy and given us an opportunity to bond over something she is currently obsessed with. Without those moments, we wouldn't be in a position to call and respond every single pup's signature catch phrase together - even when the screen isn't on.
Thank you Kevin for this. My 11 month old's baby teeth are starting to show. My wife and I were discussing how we're going to miss his toothless grin. Infact we're going to miss every aspect of his growth and we're also eagerly looking forward to his upcoming milestones. A conundrum.
This newsletter struck a chord, thank you. My youngest is turning 5 in a couple of months, and we just got confirmation of his kindergarten registration, and suddenly it's all feeling very real. I don't have babies anymore, I have kids. The baby/toddler stage was tough, and left some scars, but now I'm almost nostalgic about it.
I have a note on my phone where I started recording my kids' first words and sentences. It morphed into a record of all the weird things and cute mispronunciations they come up with. I highly recommend it.
Two weeks into The Tunnel myself with our first. Needed this so much
This really resonated with this tunnel-dweller this morning. Thanks.
Great article, Kevin! Keep up the good work.
Great article, Kevin! Keep up the good work.
I was going to pick just one to say, thank you. But…I feel all of those, right now. Good to know we’re all seeing the same things (and fighting the right battles, and doing things a thousand times and…)
Are there any Tunnel Prepper posts peppered amongst the archives? I’ve got Double Dragons hatching in two months just outside of Tokyo. 🫡 🚇
This was perfect. Thank you!
Our son at 18 months had a fixation with keys that lasted for several months, and we resorted to giving him a keyring of spares which included a real car key. I can only imagine how many epic meltdowns that keyring prevented.
One night, we left his keyring in the cupholder of his carseat, and local vagrant stumbled on them while going driveway-to-driveway rummaging through cars for change. We didn't have any change, but he did steal the car and had it for about 4 days.
Our son turned 5 in March. I blame him slightly less for getting our car stolen, but only slightly.
Kid's now 5 for 4 months and seriously the end of the tunnel is amazing. We just got back from our first trip post 5 and were both pleasantly surprised with how well kid did both in general at a new place and for the bracketing 8 hour car rides.
I will miss 'silver hire fydrant' exclamations though.