Today Was a Great Day - Toddlers - Families.com

by Sara Berthiaume | More from this Blogger

The past few weeks have been a little crazy around here. Bringing a newborn home is a challenging time for parents, and when there is a toddler involved the challenge is even greater. A period of adjustment is to be expected, and every toddler will react differently to his or her new brother or sister. Although we tried to prepare Dylan for the arrival of his baby brother, he has had some trouble adjusting to our new family situation. What has been especially hard for him is sharing his Mommy with another person who has very big needs.

While the things that Dylan has been feeling and doing are well within the range of what other people have said happens with toddlers when you bring home a baby, that has not stopped me from feeling badly that I have not been able to make it easier for him. Today, we did manage to have not just a good day but a great day. Today I learned a couple of things that I am confident will help us increase the amount of good and great days that we have.

Ever since Dylan was old enough to play outside, I have known that the more outdoor time he has, the happier he is. Unfortunately, the past few weeks have been mostly chilly and damp which is to be expected at this time of year where we live. Now that we have a newborn in the family, cold weather does limit the amount of time that we can be outside.

Today was warm, and I took full advantage of it. I had planned a trip to the grocery store, but once I saw the weather I added another item to our itinerary for the day - a trip to the playground before we went to the store. While we were there, we had a great time together. Dylan was so busy playing and interacting with the other children that he seemed to forget all about his little brother, who was snuggled close to me in a baby sling and dozed contentedly through the entire playground experience. It made me so happy to see him exploring the play equipment and socializing. When we are at home he focuses on me so much that I think it is almost too much - I feel better when he is able to focus on other people and other things. I'm looking forward to warmer days and plenty of time at the playground because the positive energy from this morning's outing carried all the way through lunch, the grocery store, the car ride home, and all the way to bedtime.

Sara Berthiaume was born and raised in central Massachusetts. After graduating from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, she moved to central Vermont to attend Vermont Law School.

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