“PS. She just walked in and is now crying because the sandal she took off is now off of her feet.”

This was the post-script at the end of my friend, Tori’s, blog post called, “The REAL Reasons My Toddler is Crying,” and when I got to this point, I couldn’t stop nodding to the computer screen in agreement.

This was the first post from her blog that I read after we met online in a writer’s group, and I have to tell you, it literally had me chuckling out loud and slapping my desk as I was reading.  I’ve reread it several times since, and it gets the same response each time.

Tori’s hilarious; I just adore her sense of humor, and it comes across in her writing.  But, more importantly, she’s totally on point as she discusses the real reason our toddlers cry.  So, I’m laughing, but then I’m also thinking back to when my own kids were toddlers, and I’m nodding my head because I.have.been.there.

Well, let me be honest: today, my kids are 9 and 5, and there are still moments when they get overwhelmed and don’t know how to deal and become emotional.

Many of us been there with a toddler crying over crazy stuff, right?

It’s #funnynotfunny, isn’t it?

I mean, you’re sitting there with this child, who just yesterday asked you to use the dinosaur cookie cutter to cut the buttered toast you gave him for breakfast, and he’s melting down today because you used the dinosaur cookie cutter to cut the buttered toast you gave him for breakfast.

What.in.the.world, son?

It’s easy to take it personally.  It’s easy to lash back at said child.  Especially if this is day 72 of such outbursts – and it’s probably gone on longer than that.

I couldn’t even put my finger on exactly what it was that was making my kids act so crazy until I read this post, but Tori’s nailed it.  It’s so simple, but it is so true.  You’ll see it, too.  Then, you’ll do a forehead slap like I did, and you’ll wish you could go back to every moment your kid cried over something insane, and you lost your temper (if you aren’t still in the throws of toddlerhood).  You’ll wish you could go back and “dig deep…and just sit with [your child] in her two-ness” as Tori suggests.

I’m trying to keep this in mind even now.  When I’m recalling all the blow ups I’ve had in response to the crying over crazy things.  When I feel like a terribly mommy.

When these feelings come up, I’m going to remind myself that “…’I am failing as a mom’ is not on the list of reasons my toddler is crying.”

Thanks, Tori.  I needed that 🙂

Read “The REAL Reasons My Toddler is Crying” and then visit Tori at A Wing and a Prayer where she blogs about parenting and Jesus and everything in between.  I know you’ll want to subscribe, just like I did, so you can get your own doses of Tori’s wit and wisdom sent straight to your inbox.

Tori is wife to Jeff and mom to a preschooler and a kindergartner. She loves Jesus, music, reading, watching #allthesports with her husband, drinking Jasmine tea, writing when she can find the time and connecting with other moms any chance she gets. Her dream is to see moms and women connected, empowered and encouraged; unburdened, unchained and unleashed.  In addition to writing on her own blog, Tori is a staff writer and the Community Coordinator for Project Mother where she gets the chance to help moms seek connection and create spaces of belonging for one another.

Connect with Tori on her blog, Instagram