Temper/ Where's My Baby?

Tai just celebrated his first birthday, and as if on cue, he has begun to act more like a toddler than a baby. The change happened overnight, and I will never forget our incident at Half-Price Books. It was the first time I felt panic about Tai. Panic as in, "Oh no, how many more years do I have of this and how will I possibly survive?"

Yes, babies are difficult. They want to nurse around the clock and be held all the time. But toddlers present a different sort of challenge. I don't know which is worse. Case in point, our bookstore experience.

The three of us dropped by Half Price Books to drop off some books and look around. As usual, I put Tai in the cart, and Maia walked around with me. She was taking a long time looking at some books, and Tai began to get a little fussy. "Poor little guy," I thought. "I'll just take you out of the cart for a while and let you look at books too."

Five minutes later, I had picked up and returned dozens of books to the shelf . Apparently, Tai thought taking the books off the shelves was a game. I drew the line when he attempted to open a sealed package. "That's okay, baby boy," I whispered patiently. " I'll just pick you up and hold you. That always makes you happy."

Much to my chagrin, Tai began to protest loudly and struggle to get down and back to his work of opening the sealed book. "Maia, it's time to go right now." Wrangling a shopping cart, an angry 26 pound squirming baby, and a preschooler who is not ready to leave through a bookstore is not an experience I'm interested in repeating. The whole time, all I could think was, "This is the first time Tai has behaved like this. Where is my baby?"

We checked out and made it to the car with no problems. We may even go back someday. But you better believe I'm bringing a stroller and strapping Tai in. Lesson learned!