5 Emotions You Will Experience Being a Parent of a Toddler

Written by guest writer: Lisa at Mummascribbles

Toddler-hood brings a mixture of emotions and a mixture of developmental stages which can trigger those emotions! There can be days of complete and utter joy, days of tearing your hair out and days where you just want to cry when they push you to the limits. So here is my guide to the emotions that come from being the parent of a toddler. All of these can happen several times on the same day!

Joy

Every day your toddler will do something that amazes you. It could be that they come out with a sentence that makes complete sense, do their first wee on the potty or catch their first ball. Any of these things and many, many more will bring you absolute joy. Sometimes it’s just their smiling little selves. These little people are very good at making us feel complete and utter joy and the look on the faces when they see they’ve made you happy – let’s just say they are very pleased with themselves!

Frustration

As they become more independent, it can get seriously frustrating. When they want to unlock the car, butter their own toast and warm up their own milk, among other things, means everything takes four times as long. But if you don’t let them do it, there will be tears! At those times, you really have to remember that these little people are learning and when they accomplish something, they are so proud of themselves that they want to do it over and over again. Who are we to discourage them?!

Love

I find myself falling more and more in love with Zach each day. There are literally moments that my heart swells. When it feels like it’s going to burst. It’s a feeling like no other and the level of it is completely indescribable. Sometimes they will just look at you and you’ll feel it, sometimes they’ll do something that is cute beyond words and you’ll feel it. It is the best feeling ever. I often look at him and am amazed that I made him.

Sadness

Unfortunately there will be moments that you feel sad that your little baby is growing up. I saw a photo recently of Zach when he was a baby and it made me really sad that he is not that little anymore. The time goes so fast and suddenly you find yourself with this clever, witty, funny, beautiful child. They will always be your baby but they start needing you a lot less than they once did!

Fear

We always feel fear with our children. From the moment they are born we worry about them but that worry certainly grows as they become a toddler. The fear of them darting in to a busy road, of them having a major fall from wherever they are climbing onto, of them getting lost in the supermarket while they are busy trying to dash away from you! I’ve never felt fear like I do when I’m out and abut with a toddler!

So there it is. Everything above, I feel on a daily basis. Having a toddler is wonderful. Watching them grow into an awesome human being is incredible, but it does come with such a mixture of emotions. Sometimes the emotions switch so fast! You can go from being completely and utterly in love to being completely infuriated within minutes. They love to keep us on our toes these little people!

Lisa is a mummy to two year old Zach and a full time event manager from Hertfordshire in the UK. She blogs over at Mummascribbles where she writes everything and anything related to parenting and juggling full time work and mummyhood. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.