Confessions of a Toddler Mom: Toddler Mom Survival Tips

The joys of motherhood (or fatherhood or caregiverhood) can sometimes be overshadowed by certain stages of development. One such stage is toddlerhood. But if you keep your wits about you and use a little creativity (no easy feat when you are sleep-deprived and wearing spit-up as an accessory) you will actually survive this stage...and maybe you'll even enjoy it. Well, some of it, anyway. Here are some tips to help you through it.

1. Whistle while you work

As toy and food commercials have shown us (over and over again), toddlers are very suggestive. Use this to your advantage! Simply singing the theme song to a favorite TV show (or educational DVD) will cause the toddler to ask to watch the aforementioned show. This will give you enough time to cook dinner, or at least take a deep breath. Be sure to pull this trick off casually, as if you are unaware of what tune you are mindlessly humming. If they catch you actually suggesting they watch said show then the spell will be broken and they will instantly HATE the show. Forever. This trick also works with board games, if you can remember the jingle from the commercial. Certainly your toddler remembers it!

2. A tantrum is no match for a good game of Peek-A-Boo

Distraction is a toddler caregiver's best friend. If your toddler is heading for a melt-down, something off-limits, breakable or dangerous, point out some other interesting thing! The toddler will veer off course, if only for a few moments. Then you can usher them away from the forbidden object...and on to the next one.

Keep in mind that the distraction object can also be imaginary. Example: Point up at the sky and say, "Look at the pretty balloon! Oh, it flew away. What's your favorite color balloon?" By now you should have walked far from the potential disaster.

3. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

Silly names make food more appealing. My daughter loves a show with bunnies, so we never have plain carrots - we have Max and Ruby carrots. She can't get enough! Oatmeal is so last year, but Baby Bear's Porridge is just right! Spaghetti can be worms if your kids like that sort of thing, grapes can be ogre eyeballs...you get the idea. Just tailor the new name to something your child likes and responds to and you'll have a cleaned plate in no time.