Those Were the Days

I have to admit it has been awhile since I had a two year old. But it’s like riding a bike, right? Well as it turned out, not quite, but fortunately I have training wheels, otherwise known as big kids, who don't let me get too far out in the street.

Siena finds parts of "The Princess Diaries"
puzzling.

We invited my 2-year-old niece, Siena, to visit for the weekend. I remembered that childproofing was a good idea. Made sure the back yard was secure, told everyone to lock the front door and close bedroom doors that held “valuables.” How hard could it be? And actually it wasn’t -- for me. I didn’t change a single diaper, tuck her into bed, read her a story or play with her. I did put food on a plate for her when I served my other kids, and if she was hungry I guess she ate, but I didn’t check to see if she ate all (or any) of her corndog er organic baby greens.

It’s not that I’m not interested in hanging out with a 2 year old(well maybe it is). But I figured that at least some of my kids were. “Never changed a diaper, Marty Isaac? Now’s your big chance.” “How about lying down with Siena until she goes to sleep, Ari?” “Truman, can you make sure Siena doesn’t fall off the chair while she’s eating?” “Kona, I know it sucks but for the next 48 hours you will be hauled around by your leash and must do whatever Siena wants.”

Who fell asleep first?

My kids didn’t let me down. One night after he read her stories before bed, Ethan danced with her to a CD of Primary songs. Even Connor gave her a little pat on the head and a “Hi, Siena,” when he’d come across her. Early on Jake made the mistake of trying to give her a good night buss on the cheek and made her cry. After that she kept her distance from that scary boy.

Even when Siena penetrated the bedroom door barrier and tried strumming a guitar, she was forgiven. And only once did she escape out the front door (clever child) and start off down the driveway – Kona in tow. She wasn’t always color coordinated, but Ari kept her clean (Can we take another bath?) and dressed, and apparently she didn’t starve to death even though we didn’t follow her parents force-feeding routine of asking her 82 times to take a bite.

All in all it was a good weekend. Did I wish to rewind time to those toddler years of my own? No, but it was nice to enjoy a couple days of Siena and then say on Sunday evening, “Bye bye, Siena. Have a nice trip home!”