Dealing with the “Terrible Twos”:

• Did you ever have one of those Mommy days? This picture says it all! If you want to learn what I used to do with my kids to avoid this Kodak moment, this is the article for you!

• Just remember if you are having one of those days: it won’t be like this forever (listen to the song above and it will also remind you!)

“Would you rather be stuck in a car in gridlock traffic or swinging through trees like Tarzan?”~Tony Steele

Jungle Fever

Have you ever stood in the checkout line at the local grocery store and watch a poor young mother battle her feisty toddler? The tike wants out of the grocery cart and lets the world know, by roaring at a pitch that would send jungle lions into hiding. And although the child’s gorilla-holler would be admired by Tarzan, this mom wasn’t “feeling-the-love” for her jungle baby.

The smoke signal sending out an S.O.S. was spreading rapidly, like a tropical rash brought on suddenly by the sting of a large buzzing bush berry bee. The feverish rash or bright pink flush covering the young mother’s cheeks told everyone watching, she would soon be contemplating how to “get even”. It’s what all mothers contemplate when attacked by a wild child and hit with jungle fever; we think how nice it would be to eat our naughty offspring, like the other tigresses do in the rainforest. That would get our control back! But this mom lived on the civilized side of the brush and persevered with dignity. Once the bill was paid, she wheeled her jungle baby out of the store at the speed of a formula one race car.

If you’re a mom, you’ve been there and understand how awkward and embarrassing it is when you can’t stop your child’s tantrum in public. When you’re the spectator, it sometimes feels worse because you understand what the mom is going through and feel guilty watching the power struggle. It’s like watching Jane, the heroin in the movie, being tied up by her favorite little pet monkey. You watch her being tortured, and you know it’s so unfair, but you can’t do anything to save her. She’s completely at the mercy of her cute, whaling chimp. Then after she pays for her groceries, you feel relieved. You realize the re-run of this partcular Tarzan episode is over because Jane just broke free. Tomorrow a new episode will play with a different Jane and jungle baby, in a different aisle, at a different or maybe the same grocery store, but the story line remains the same. Toddlers fight for power and will do anything to claim victory over their mom. Do you remember what it feels like playing Jane?

We’ve all been there, as spectator and as mother. We know it’s not fun to feel trapped in jungle wire by our own loveable tike, and yet it happens. For me, the winter months were always challenging. My kids wanted to play outside and yet it was too cold most days. We were becoming bored with the same routine of arts and crafts or having me pushing them in a stroller around the mall. If the weather didn’t permit them to get out doors and burn off steam; they ran wild in the house. Indoor gyms were fun some of the time, but it wasn’t something I could do daily.

I wanted to come up with a solution, a preventative; like going to the pediatrician and getting my child immunized before jungle bush fever would hit and infect my house. Every January and February I felt the fever; the natives were restless and growing wilder by the day. What would Jane do to tame her monkey?

I could never answer that question, but I knew what this Jane was going to do to reclaim her forest turf; Yoga, a very safe and calming antidote to settle the forest rumblings. I bought a video and tape and did it every day with my kids and it always seemed to settle the zoo. It provided giggles and actually taught my children how to slow down and focus. It turned out to be entertaining for all of us. Now teen agers, my kids still remember it as a part of their day and they laugh when they recall how much fun they had or how silly we’d get. Giggles keep the fever away for sure.

If you think it could help quiet the restless children roaming your side of the forest, then click the link below and hear what experts say about the benefits of using yoga with children. It’s my article for Divine Moms on why yoga is becoming popular with kids and parents. I’m taking you out of the rain forest and into the Zen Zone. Will you follow me there? Hope so!

Here’s the link: Which Way To Tranquility?

LU