Raising Toddlers and Lessons in Motherhood
This year is coming to a close and that’s always a great time to reflect on what happened in the previous twelve months! This year was definitely a year for the books in our home in many ways, but most notably I learned so many lessons in motherhood and got a full dose of what life is like raising toddlers. Through it all, I have given you advice on how to raise toddlers and have also admitted my shortcoming, downfalls, and parenting needs. So now for the countdown of the top 10 parenting posts this year! (Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see this year’s number one post.)
10. Explaining Death to a Child
This year we lost two pets and two patriarchs in our family. While this post is about the first event that happened this year, our dog Rowdy, a lot of the same principles applied to talking to our daughter about her Papa and her Great Grandad passing away.
9. It took 22 Months to Love my daughter
Motherhood did not come as rainbows and sunshines for me and it took a long time to make a true and lasting connection with my oldest daughter. She is so sweet and wonderful and I love her dearly, but that came as I was raising a toddler and not the love-at-first-sight connection as a newborn.
8. Encouraging Toddler Independence
Nothing solves behaviors problems like giving toddlers a little bit more independence. My daughter craved the opportunity to help more and do more on her own around the house… and who was I to stop her? Here are just a few ways that we learned about raising toddlers and ways to encourage that independence she so desperately desires.
7. Helping Kids Cope with Anxiety
Part of raising toddlers is going through separation anxiety and anxieties in general. From helping kids cope with family gatherings to understand your own child’s little nuances, this is all about situational coaching and helping kids through those difficult moments.
6. One Simple Step to Teach a Toddler to Stop Begging
When my oldest daughter was old enough to verbalize her desires and ask for things, it quickly became a begging game. Here is how we still work with her to not incessantly ask for things, but to know we have acknowledged her and that she does not need to ask again.
5. Dear SAHM, Please Don’t Shut Up
Life as a stay at home mom, especially while raising toddlers, can be extremely isolating and difficult. Rather than label SAHMs as complainers and demand they shut up, it’s important that we hear each other out and give each other the support we so desperately need.
4. The Parenting Village Doesn’t Exist
The modern world seems to be lacking in tight-knit communities (aka “villages”). So while it may take a village to raise a child, the village is something that for many of us doesn’t exist. And maybe we think we have friends and a community, but was does i look like when we really don’t have a village…?
An open letter to mothers with only one child. It doesn’t take having six children to be super mom. It just takes having one child to be a mother and to be good at that job.
2. Being a Stay at Home Mom is NOT rewarding
Being at home with kids is always what I wanted to do, but once I actually took on that role it is absolutely not what I was expecting and it was a difficult adjustment. Maybe you can relate to the idea that the work place and homemaking just cannot be compared on the same scale or that raising children 24/7 was not quite what you anticipated.
1. Teaching Toddlers Consequences for their Choices
Consequences and choices are both a part of life. In raising toddlers and children that are to be prepared for the world in front of them, I want my children to know true lessons in failure and trues lessons for each choice they make. In the end, teaching consequences to my toddler has helped encourage her independence and has even boost her self-confidence.
Want More Popular Parenting Tips?
Find more on parenting by visiting the landing page where over 25 other bloggers from around the web have compiled their top parenting posts of the year.
More of my posts on Raising Toddlers:
Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 6 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
