After nap time today I thought that perhaps getting outside would help my toddler get some of her tantrum energy out, so we walked the dog to the park in the middle of our complex. It went really well at first. The dog enjoyed a nice poop where everyone could see. My daughter announced, "The doggie is pooping!" in case anyone might not have noticed. I stood there and tried to make the fact that I brought my pick-up baggies obvious. My daughter chased her red ball around the park, and we threw the ball back and forth. Then, we walked on the walking trail around the park, stopping frequently to admire special blades of grass, leaves and various other objects of intense toddler interest. It was a beautiful day enjoying the oak trees and the park until...
It was time to go home. At first my daughter complied. We were going to follow the trail back towards our place. (The trail had rocks on it- yay!) Then she stopped. So, I stopped, and said, "Aren't we following the trail?" She looked at me, smiled, cackled, and took off. J is fast, and she doesn't get tired. She might be a cross-country star when she gets big. I called her and told her to come back, and she ignored me. So, I stood there and watched her run circles around the park, still cackling. I thought if I chased her, she would just run further, and I had the dog to drag along with me. Prior to this day J would get scared once she got a certain distance from me and come back. NOT today.
She looked at me, cackled again, and RAN into an alley between the apartments. I had never been over on that side before, so I didn't even know where it went. Panicked I ran after her, dragging the dog with me. When I came out of the alleyway I was in another small, dim courtyard with trees. Everything was a the gray color things are right at twilight, and the trees added an eerie green to the gray. Even eerier was that it was perfectly silent. My daughter was not there, and there were three different ways she could have gone. My heart dropped. I was yelled her name, and I was answered by a loud cackle. Flying towards the noise, I saw her disappear around a corner and run up the stairs to a parking garage. I yelled in my most desperate, angry, mom-voice, "Julie STOP! CARS!" Then she stopped and started to cry. She knew she had put herself in danger because she knows she's always supposed to hold hands in parking lots. Thank goodness I've taught her cars are dangerous and to hold hands in parking lots and when crossing the street.
I sat her down right there and told her what she did was very dangerous, and that we were going straight home. I ended up leaving her ball at the park because about half way through the walk home she decided that she still wasn't going home, and she dropped to the ground and then laid on the ground, glaring at me in protest. I couldn't carry her, hold the dog leash, and carry the ball, and I explained that to her. We left the ball in the park. Hopefully, it will bring another family more happiness than it has brought me. The red ball plus my toddler equals trouble around here.
So now after today, walks to the park have been temporarily suspended. We did not watch TV in the evening because she threw a tantrum and hit me when I turned it off earlier in the day. (I reminded her of that event, and she said she remembered.) The red ball is gone for good. (Sorry, red ball, it wasn't working out.) We also had four time-outs for various other offenses like water play with the bathroom sink water. Now she is finally sleeping. Sweet relief!
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