Am I the only person on Mumsnet who actually loves toddlers?!

[Karathraceandherspecialdestiny]

I know people are more likely to post when they are unhappy than to say they are happy (can sound horribly smug) but there are so few positive threads about the 18 months to 3 year age group.

My dd is 23 months and she is fantastic to be around. Very affectionate, playful and demanding - I love reading her books, helping her enact role-play with her bears, doing silly things to make her laugh, taking her to the park etc. I don't find that in the 2 days a week i have with her on my own that I need to always have a playdate or an activity scheduled.

Yes she has the odd tantrum and I get bored reading the same favourite book 20 times a day but generally she is so much fun - 'living for the moment' as Dr Green says, so cheeky yet so innocent. And now she is talking it's even better.

Yet most of my friends seem to have found the baby stage easier. But you can communicate (if not reason) with a toddler much more easily, and that gives you a whole new relationship with your child. What's not to like (especially if you still have just the one to look after)?

yes

I love toddlers

they do have AWFUL days

but in general they are fat and yummy and I want to gobble them up with their funny talk and waddling

my dd2 is 2.5

DS2 is 2 and currently really hard work.

Then, when he is asleep at night I look at his little curls and and kiss him and think, 'oh he's not so bad really' .

DS's toddlerhood is proving to be much, much better than his babyhood

DS is the BEST fun (apart from the odd tantrum)

he is exceedingly funny, affectionate, loves helping (will do little errands) and i get to do lots of colouring with him!

He just turned 2 and i said to my mum how much more enjoyable his 2nd year had been compared to the first

ofcourse we love our toddlers-what a silly thing to say!

No, I love toddlers. Actually, they seem to get more interesting as they get older.
However, the cheekiness factor seems to increase too . .

my DS can get about 18 sylablles into "baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllamoooooooooooooooooooooory"

I love the time I spend with my toddler too (he's 2.6) Much easier than his older (5.3), more vocal, more argumentative sister - I have to reason with her a lot at the moment which is a lot harder than the
Me - No you can't
Him - SCREAM(for about 10 secs)
Me - No you can't
Him - OK then
conversations that I have with DS - limited attention span is SO good

I have always liked toddlers more than babies and tantrums don't really bother me (and Ds has some humdingers). They are physically more hard work than babies but the 18month to 3 years age is a fantastic one. Beeaten only I have to say by 3-4 year olds who also get a lot of bad press on MN IMO

I don't have an 'easy' child at all as most people who look after him will attest. Nonetheless in general I think this age is fantastic.

Mine is lovely too. The best thing is that being my second, I have learned that his having tantrums are an irrational, unpredictable necessity of him getting through the day, and that it is not necessarily my fault! Having understood that, this time round, has made me enjoy him even more, and makes me look forward to the next thing that he is going to do/say that will make me smile!

Yes the 'singing' is really lovely, especially when it is accompanied by actions or a little dance Rubyslippers - I love having my 'little helper' too - guess we should enjoy that for its inevitable transience!

I love MY toddler.

Other toddlers I take on a case-by-case basis.

I love my toddler too. But the thing about toddlers is you don't have much time for MN, so you only post when things aren't going well!

DS has taken to running from one end of the house to other going 'Zoooooommm!'

Mine suddenly started singing the other week, it started off as tuneless mumbling, then I realised it was "twinkle twinkle". The smile he gave me when I asked him if that was what he was singing and could I join in was amazing! And of course when he's fast asleep I can forgive him anything.

Littlelapin - I fear the same in my dd's case. She does do a good impression of me at an 80s disco though...

DD makes me laugh on a daily basis. She infuriates me at times too but the cute and funny times outweigh the bad.

For example right now she is building "a house with window and door mummy" out of her bricks while singing bob the builder "I Bob the builder mummy, I building"

It also makes me laugh (and scares me more than a little)when she imitates me-she has got some of my expressions down perfect.

Oh I love toddlers they can be so funny.

I love the simple things like the excitment over seing a butterfly or a worm

Message withdrawn

My 21 month old is totally luscious but also blooming hard work. I had forgotten how hectic toddlers are.

So I would say I adore my toddler, but I don't adore all toddlers.

Littlelapin - I was just thinking the same about my 23 month old this morning and actually said to Dh 'have you been teaching him to dance?'

He dances to the Thomas and Friends theme tune by spreading his legs wide apart and shifting from one to the other whilst moving his arms - just the cutest cutest thing although completely out of rhythm!

And when he stands at the top of the stairs, arms outreached and says 'mama cuddle' (cos he is far too lazy to crawl down) so I pick him up and he pats me on my shoulder and says 'ahhh' - my heart melts!

Toddlers are fab!!!