2020, You Toddler!

Let me get straight to the point. I crown you ‘The Toddler’ amongst all the years that I’ve seen in my life time and others that I’ve only heard of or read about. Hush hush, don’t you get upset 2020...it’s a privilege to be entitled thus. Let me explain why.

The world looked forward to your advent much alike first time parents who eagerly look forward to their baby turning a year old. You were welcomed with grand aplomb. Little did us naive parents know the adventures that only a toddler could take us on.

When I say the word ‘toddler’, the first thing that comes to mind (for most people) is...Yes you guessed right! Tantrum! 

So hey 2020, you started off with the Australian bushfires in January. Not a great start eh?! Then something drastic happened in March. It managed to overshadow everything that happened during the rest of the year. The biggest toddler meltdown ever! I mean who would have thought the impact of that meltdown would be so drastic?! We are still reeling under it’s after effects. However, we love our toddlers don’t we? Because for every challenging tantrum, there are at least five precious moments or learnings that our toddlers unknowingly bestow upon us. So see 2020, you’ve been a crazy, boisterous toddler but you’ve been a fantastic teacher too.

Toddlers, through their mere presence reinforce the importance of family. They make you realise the value of the family that you have created and are nurturing. 

Life had become too busy, so you made us slow down and savour the gift of time with the most important people in our lives. We reconnected. You helped us communicate. We learned to listen. 

When we see our toddlers growing up to be kind, thoughtful human beings, we are overcome with gratitude. 

You taught us to be grateful. Grateful for what we have - good health, family and friends. Grateful for the key workers that ensured essential services continued during the lockdown(s)- healthcare, food, transport, utilities, deliveries. So, thank you. 

Who wouldn’t be familiar with the sudden need for independence that toddlers demonstrate? Especially when one is in a hurry and the toddler insists they do everything themselves. Great when they do it quickly but trying to zip their coat when you have exactly 5 minutes to get out of the house? But you know better than to help them or worse yet, do it for them. Blasphemy!

So dear 2020, we learnt how to become even more self reliant and independent. Even though we would have liked support from family and friends during the lockdown you ensured we learnt how to support ourselves. 

Have you seen how toddlers play with anything and everything around them? Cutlery, packaging material, blankets, boxes and the list goes on. Toddlers make the best use of whatever they have. 

And just like that you showed us how to make the most of what we have. During grocery shortages many of us baked our own bread. We used clothes that sat forgotten in our wardrobe for months. We revived forgotten passions - gardening, painting, sewing, writing. 

A quality I admire in most toddlers is optimism. They will try and try again in the hope of a positive outcome. This may even be something as annoying as calling out “Mummy” a hundred times over. Will they give up until you respond? No! 

So there 2020! You made us optimistic. Optimistic about the lockdown being lifted. Of the discovery of a vaccine, of the opportunity to meet family and friends in far off lands....we continue to attempt looking at a glass and thinking it might just be half full. 

 

With Christmas just having gone by, I’m reminded of Santa Claus and how vehemently toddlers believe in his existence. The same goes for the tooth fairy and perhaps unicorns! 

And somewhere along our journey whilst we were all surviving you 2020, we slowly started believing in magic. The magic of belief, of faith, of hope. 

So thank you dear 2020. You’ve etched yourself into our memories and how?!