Welcome to Threenager Diaries. This is an entry from my diary where I’ve noted only very little of her growing up. I’ve forgotten so much already. Writing down that little memory, so that I could sit back and laugh after a few years.
If I have to sum up a Threenager or pre-schooler in one word, I would like to choose..
REBEL
Yes, all in capitals. That’s what I feel about my daughter, to say the least.
Threenager Diaries
According to a Threenager, one must rebel for everything in daily life. I feel their learning of struggle and understanding the essence of power starts here! Be it waking up in the morning, or getting out of the bathtub, saying NO to going to school and also shouting NO to coming back from school. Just about everything.
From what she wants to eat to what she does not want to eat, also to why she wants to eat that same thing everyday. Crying to switch the TV on, also crying to switch the TV off! Phew..
As a parent, if there is one thing I learned, but working hard to practice, is to stay put and be the silent audience. Start an argument or share an advice, both comes back to you in mysterious ways when you don’t really want to hear them!
Long Conversations about Anything
We have a lot of long conversations nowadays and her curiosity makes me laugh as well as makes me pull out every strand of hair before she shifts to another topic. eg. The Why Amma?
Sometimes I wonder how much my daughter has grown; sometimes, I want her to grow a little more to enjoy more familiar things. However, most times, I want her to remain this little darling for some more time. Don’t laugh at my confusions as a mother! There’s more to that.
We also have deep conversations about potty! One of the topic that piques her interest immediately is talking about potty. Since I have not many inputs to give her about it, I let her do the talking. With so many videos on YOUTUBE in the name of potty training, I had to block a long list that was purely disturbing.
Talking about potty is not embarrassing, it is a good habit, the curiosity is there about what one does inside the bathroom, at this age. Beyond that, it is important to keep an eye on what the child watches on the Internet.
Getting into the details of a couple of conversations that interested me to share this post!
What did Naina(Father) Just Do?
The other day when my husband had dried one of my t-shirt on the newly bought slide, she went up to him and asked if he thought it was a person? He said No, dear, it is a plaything.
To which she asked, then why did you dress up the slide? She took my slightly dry t-shirt and put it back on the sofa with the other clothes. We laughed so hard that day and I could still laugh about it.
The same conversation came up a few days later when we were discussing our recent movie. By then, I forgot about the slide conversation. The cinema news will appear shortly!
On another evening my daughter told me she needed to ask me something. I was curious to know what this question would be, dragons, dinosaurs, or any other creature.
Suddenly little Lakki asked me, Is the slide a person? I told her, No dear, it is a thing, just like a chair or table. Why do you think so? She was pondering over what I told her.
After a few seconds of deep thought, she asked me, Do you think dad thought the slide was a person?
Laughing somewhat at her thought, I told her why he would think so? It is because he dressed up that slide the other day.
I laughed so hard, remembering the missed bits from the other evening. I couldn’t stop laughing; still, I asked my daughter in all sincerity, If she thought her father thought the slide was a person? She answered, Yes, Amma. I thought he did so; isn’t that why he dressed it up.
After laughing for what felt like 5 minutes, she understood what her father had done. He had just placed the cloth on the slide to dry it up since both of us were too exhausted and a teeny bit lazy to climb up the stairs to dry it.
Movie Experience with a 3-Year-Old
I am coming to the movie discussions that keep us busy nowadays. You must be already aware that I am proficient in Masha and the Bear, The Grizzy and the Lemmings, and Paddington. Well, we realized it is time to broaden our boundaries.
We learn about Dinosaurs now. I can guarantee you that I know them a bit better now. I am not sure if I am proficient enough to hold a conversation with a 10-year-old about dinosaurs yet, but I am qualified to divert a 3-year-old with a dinosaur conversation.
Thanks to Netflix for the numerous options, from short stories to movies on dinosaurs. I was initially apprehensive of showing her gory things so early. I didn’t want her to go kicking and fist-punching others(mainly me), thinking she was a dinosaur herself.
Threenager Diaries: Into the World of Dinosaurs
My uncle made her watch this Jurassic World Lego Version, The Indominus Escape, on Netflix. She seemed to enjoy it. During another visit, he started the Jurassic World(2015) version for her. She loved and started identifying the dinosaurs from it.
She asked me so many questions about the dinosaurs. I have not thought so much about them myself for so many years.
- Why did they die?
- How did they die?
- Why are humans so cruel to dinosaurs?
- Where do volcanoes exist?
- What is that orange colour that comes out of a volcano?
- Does it hurt the dinosaurs?
I answered her after thinking a lot about it, but watching The fallen Kingdom gave her a fitting response. Humans injuring animals are going to be punished by animals is her verdict. She relates everything about animals to our two pet mongrels: Joy and Ruby.
So, we bought this book Gigantosaurus by Johnny Duddle before a few months. It is about an imaginary dinosaur, Gigantosaurus, but it is a short story about four little dinosaurs who roamed about every day finding Giganto. I don’t want to bore you with my proficiency here about how much I know about dinosaurs.
I used to read the book to her almost ten times during the first week we bought it. She wanted me to read it while she drank milk in the morning, while she had her breakfast, during her lunch, her naptime story, her dinnertime story, and also her bedtime story.
Initially, I was bored reading it so many times. When reading frequency reduced to 4-5 times a day, I decided to explain the story in 2 languages. It became interesting to search for equivalent words in thamizh and present it to her.
She always liked Ankylosaurs because it kicks the Tyrannosaurus with the stone on its tail. She is also fond of Triceratops because it looks cute with three horns and the smallest one in the tribe of 4 dinosaurs from the book.
Threenager Diaries: Into the World of Dragons
Next, we entered the world of Dragons. Of course, which one other than a Night Fury could excite my daughter’s interests better? We have seen it thrice since the weekend. There is a web series on How to Train Your Dragon web series on Netflix. We watched a few episodes as well.
Recently, we bought the Night Fury toy so she could play with it. She is fond of it just like the dinosaurs and said that she would enjoy going on a ride on a dragon. Now, she wants to sit on our pet mongrel. I’m wondering what’s going to happen to the mongrel who is actually fond of her until now.
When we watched the movie first, she was not able to tell the name of the dragon. She went from calling him toothy, toothly, footless, truth less to finally toothless. I couldn’t contain my laughter, but I always made an effort to reiterate the right name to her. Finally, she found the muscle to say TOOTHLESS. Now, I can laugh about this even after I become toothless.
With a Threenager, there is so much to learn. Above everything, there is so much to unlearn. A peek into my Threenager’s diaries makes me laugh a lot and all these are just me cherishing memories about her growing up.