The World of a 2-Year-Old

Sometimes I miss the days when Kai and I spent the entire day together, but for the most part, I just love how much fun he's having at the daycare (Langara Daycare did not disappoint, and the wait was worth it).

I wonder, everyday after I drop him off, what his days are like as a 2-year-old in -- what many of us parents of the daycare call -- "The Happy Bubble". The teachers always give us a brief summary of what and how he did in a day, but I'm more interested in what goes on internally, especially when you have a kid who rarely acts up like mine.

I mean, I know the set schedule:

8:30 - 10:30 drop-off & free play
10:30 - 11:00 snack time
11:00 - 11:30 group time
11:30 - 12:30 play outside/go for a walk on campus
12:30 - 1:30 lunch
1:30 - 3:30 nap
3:30 - 4:00 snack
4:00 - 4:30 outside time and pick-up

But what does he think about during those activities? Who does he see as his friends? How does he see the other kids? Are there moments when he's so excited that he wants to share with his mommy or daddy right away? How does he deal with fear or frustration?

We ask how his day is every day on the way home, but what he's able to tell us is still very limited: "Play [with] Jack." "Drive Aiden car." Plus, like I said, this is a kid who always seems happy, so everyday is a good day for him. However, we know he has strong feelings towards some of his classmates. For instance, we know he seems to like this little girl Maggie because his voice softens and there's always a sly little smile on his face when he mentions her name. We know he's still working things out or trying to figure out this humongous kid Jack who is currently going through a phase of making sense of his physical strengths. We know Jack sometimes frightens Kai. We know Kai gets uneasy whenever Aiden cries for his mama.

We don't remember things that happened when we were two (unless you're like my husband who 'claims' that he has memories from when he was 2). Chances are, Kai may not remember Maggie or Jack or Aiden when he grows up. But greedy as I am, this is the here and now, and I wish there was a way for me to know how he feels as a 2-year-old, even for just one day.

Trust me, I've done my fair share of research on the intellectual, emotional, social, physical, and cognitive developments of a 2-year-old, but after a while, those are just words that blend together without any significance.

Let me explain with an example.

Today when I went to pick Kai up, the first thing Tess said to me was, "Kai had a great day. He's been getting lots of love from all the girls, especially from Maggie." I chuckled and told Tess that I think Kai has a little crush on Maggie. Tess then reported, "Well, that explains then. This morning, Maggie held Kai's face in her hands, and at first I thought Kai may not like it 'cause you know how sometimes kids don't like to be touched a certain way. When I went over to ask Kai if it was okay for Maggie to do that to him, he was just standing there smiling at her."

It's moments like that that I wish I could know what was going through his mind because, let's face it, we very often underestimate what a 2-year-old is capable of. Yet we see evidence of keen awareness and complex thought process all the time in our daily interactions. I mean, it blows my mind every time Kai negotiates with me with his limited linguistic abilities. It puts a smile on my face when I'm trying to outsmart him and he looks at me a certain way as if saying, "I know what you're trying to do, Mommy, but I'm not gonna budge." Or... the best one is when he does something painfully cute, and you can tell that he knows he's being cute and totally milking it right in front of your eyes.

I guess I've lost track of what I originally was gonna write about. Oh well, I'll use this post to remind myself to never underestimate how much this little guy understands and experiences. To remind myself to always take my children seriously, even when it seems juvenile and silly. 'Cause even when they're only 2 or 5 or 13, their feelings are just as powerful and valid as yours or mine. A child's feelings need to be handled with care 'cause, unlike you or me -- the jaded bitter adults that we are at times, they haven't had enough experience in the rough and tumble with the inevitable hurts and disappointments in life to develop a layer of tough skin yet. Everything is raw and tender. While some may think it's okay because kids won't remember much from this period of their lives, every experience creates a neural pathway in their brains and THAT will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Geek out.