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Wednesday 16 January 2013

“I don’t want you, I don’t like you, I don’t love you”



That is an exact quote from W (aged 2.5 years) to me yesterday at bedtime. As a mother to a toddler, I am no stranger to hearing “I no want you, Mommy,” but throwing in the “L” word was a new one. And it did sting a little. Rational me knows it doesn’t mean anything, but where do children learn that saying something like that will have an impact? I certainly didn’t teach it, Dora the Explorer doesn’t talk like that, so where? Daycare — possible, I suppose. But I know that every kid does it and probably has been doing it for hundreds of years. What in their tiny heads makes them want to be rid of Mommy (or Daddy) when they feel out of control? Why when he is tired, hungry, angry does he want to be rid of me?

That’s just what I’m wondering about today. I also wanted to share it so that you know that if your toddler said that today, you aren’t alone.

-Tightrope Mama

[image: Robert Indiana, Love]

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