"I want my Mom"

Discover Pink Floyd!

The life of a two-year-old involves lots of drama. Sometimes, Margaret deals with that drama by moaning loudly and repeatedly on our way home after work. After a few blocks, I'll stop and try to console her. If that doesn't work, I'll try to reason with her about how we're almost home and she doesn't want to make Maddie sad. If she still insists on groaning, I threaten that she's making Papa angry, something that she probably should avoid. Usually, one of those three approaches works, but we occasionally have a very unpleasant walk home, with Margaret moaning, to the amusement of passersby, while Papa steams.

Lately, she's started using a new phrase to express her displeasure. "I want my Mom," she'll whine. Not Mama, which is her usual phrase for referring to Abby, nor Abby, which is the other common reference to her Mom. Instead, she plaintively intones, "I want my Mom."

This phrase has been popping up more and more frequently. On one extreme, it pops up when she's feeling a little bit cranky and wants some consolation. Now, Papa can provide that consolation as well as Mama, but she still insists, "I want my Mom." On the other extreme, when Papa is irritated or is trying to correct some misbehavior, she'll start to bawl. In between heaving sobs, she'll blubber, "I want my Mom."

We're not sure where she picked up this phrase, but she probably learned it from someone in the preschool at daycare. After all, she never uses "Mom" in everyday speech, it's just when she's feeling needy, for one reason or another. But we've been trying to quash it, because it either arises in stupid settings (e.g. when Abby's in the shower in the morning) or when Abby isn't available and there's nothing to be done.

The biggest problem arises when Teddy elicits howls from Margaret when we're at home before Abby gets home. As I discussed in an earlier post, Margaret has become quite busy which often involves putting things in bags and containers that she then carries around. Teddy, being a curious little bugger, wants to get in on the action. But when he tries to grab something, Margaret resists and often starts to scream at him. "Teddddddyyyyy," she'll howl, tugging on her bag and occasionally pushing him in the process. Until recently, Teddy has responded with a quizzical expression, but lately he has also started to howl when Margaret thwarts him. Because Margaret is the more "rational" of the two, I often try to reason with her that she needs to move her toys away from the boy in order to avoid these confrontations. Often, this doesn't work as Margaret will start to sob. The frequent end to these episodes? "I want my Mom."

(BTW, the song at the beginning of this post isn't really "pro-Mom." But I like it because I've always liked Pink Floyd, and less motivated readers won't realize why it's not pro-Mom.)