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Playing with Our Toddlers

Loving, Chasing and Playing with Toddlers

By Mark Stackpole

The definition of the term "toddler" is very simple, and the source obvious: "one who toddles." To "toddle," in turn, means to "walk with an unsteady gait." One can't help but wonder if the person who coined the term ever had to chase a toddler around the house trying to prevent wanton destruction.

How can something so small with stubby legs, diapered fanny and huge head move so fast and with such determination? How did she get on top of the counter? How did he find the only sharp implement left in the drawer that you didn't even know he could reach? If they are indeed "toddling," why do parents so often feel like they are sprinting?

Tara Mills spends a good deal of her time trying to keep the ogre from coming out of its cave. If she is successful in this endeavor, she is free to become The Map, helping Dora and Boots to arrive at their destination. Once their fellowship completes its mission, then they can all relax and enjoy some plastic hot dogs and cookies, all fresh from the toy kitchen. She wears many hats, puts on many faces and pretends many things. Mills is, after all, a parent.

Having survived "toddler-dom" with her 4-year-old son, she must now go another round with her 14-month-old daughter. Though her hands are full, the time she gets to spend with them is the most important part of her day, and she wants to make the most of it by having fun and keeping them busy, all the while maintaining her own sanity.

Imaginative play is one of their favorite things to do, from ogres to favorite animated characters. "My son's teacher told the class one day that she was a little cranky and they needed to be nice to her," says Mills, an educator and administrator from San Jose, Calif. "If they weren't, she would turn into a fire-breathing dragon. He believed her. That turned into the ogre game at home – 'Mommy will turn into an ogre if...' We have fun with Mommy turning into an ogre, but it works as a lesson for the kids to learn about moods and behavior."

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