ye cannae change the laws of physics

Geekyboy has hit the touchy twos. Offered two choices, he wants neither of them. His usual response to any request is 'no'. This can be a challenging stage for an "anything for an easy life" parent like myself. Want to stay in your pajamas all day, paint with your hands, eat playdough, drink bath water or wear your sister's Sleeping Beauty pull ups instead of your own diapers? That is fine by me.

Apparently though, this is when we are supposed to start setting boundaries. Fixed and sturdy ones that do not bend under the will of a toddler. This gives them security, so the experts say. It gives mum and dad a headache too, since we don't seem to have the temperament for calm consistency. I do have some hard and fast rules. For example I will only let my son leave his pajamas on all weekend if they are not soaked in urine. And I don't let him wear his pajamas out of the house either. At least not yet. I was inspired to do so in the future by a family we ran into at a museum this week. The kids, about the same age as mine, were all in their (admittedly very stylish) PJ's. I complimented them on their ingenuity, and their very nice mum, a fellow Brit in fact, shrugged and smiled.

This past weekend though, he ran up against one of the most fundamental and unchangeable rules of all.

Gravity.

We went the morning at the sledding hill, an unplowed section of road beside our cabin. On the first run down Geekyboy was thrilled with the speed and motion. When we slithered to a stop and I turned to pull him back up the hill he broke into hysterics. "No, no up the hill, DOWN the hill, DOWN THE HILL" he ranted. He was so disappointed and frustrated that we had to climb back up again before we could sled down.

There was nothing to do but persevere. And sure enough, he caught on. "Go down hill, go up hill, then go down again!" he chanted, finally figuring it out.

He is such a sweet boy, but this little incident made me realize what we are up against. Toddlers, they want to bend the very fabric of the universe to fit their will. No wonder we find them exhausting.

Here's a little sledding video, (I discovered iMovie), so you can share the thrill of Gravity!


sledding 2010 from geekymummy on Vimeo.