Toddler Angst

During one visit to Papa and Nana’s house, Papa, Nana, Green Grandma, Bunny and I went out to eat at a buffet restaurant. Buffets are great when you have a growing child. There‘s many different foods to eat, and when the child is really young, buffets are usually free. Great stuff.

Bunny was just about a year old. She already had a large vocabulary at this point, but hadn’t made any sentences so far.

So, we’re sitting down to eat, and Bunny starts making this frustrated “eeeeeeeeeeeee!” sound, complete with a grumpy face. “Eeeeeeeeeeeee!” She’s wriggling in her chair, “eeeeeeeeeeeee!” completely flustered. “Eeeeeeeeeeeee!” It‘s like nails on a chalkboard. “Eeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Dining out with a toddler is frequently a challenge, but this was above and beyond. We’re all going nuts.

Bunny’s Nana is a social worker. She’s calm, cool, collected. She leaned over and said:

NANA: Use your words, Bunny.

So she does. Bunny channeled every bit of her frustration into words. It sounded like she was possessed by a legion of demons. Every word was slow and deliberate. And shouted at the top of her lungs.

BUNNY: GET! IT! OFF! ME!

We all stared at her for a moment with a mixture of surprise, horror, and awe. Nana was the first one to recover.

NANA: Get what off you , Bunny?
BUNNY: SHOE!

So we took off her shoes, and Bunny was content. We could finally eat in peace.