Motherhood

Defining motherhood is open to interpretation. Now, I may have never experienced the pleasures of giving birth (or pregnancy for that matter), but I can relate to the responsibility of caring for a living thing. Time and time again, I think about how similar Alfredo is to a toddler. (While most of my time is spent with high school students, I did have the privilege of teaching preschool one summer, which is how I learned so much about toddlers.) Here are reasons why Alfredo is similar to raising a toddler:

1. Alfredo will play and play and play. He'll be extremely tired and try his hardest to fight sleep. Eventually, he gives in, taking at least a couple of naps a day. In fact, he's napping right now, and here I am blogging on my "down time".

2. If he ever doesn't feel well, he curls up in my lap. He does the same if he ever hurts himself. These experiences are extremely rare, but they do happen, and when they do, there he is demanding mommy's affection.

3. Since being at dad's place, he can't seem to stay out of my little sister's room. He's enjoyed playing with her toys, specifically her stuffed animals.

4. He likes leaving his toys all over the place. This is one downfall of him NOT being an actual toddler; I haven't discovered a fun way to teach him how to play "pick-up". Here's another picture of Alfredo with Lila's toys...you can see the mess he is making.   

5. He has no problem telling me when he wants/needs something. Aaaand, he's awake. Time to go! 

I'm certainly glad he's finding such joy out of my little sister's toys...