The Super Shift

There are have been moments in parenthood that offer a subtle reminder that life as you had once known it, (before kids) has shifted.  For me it wasn't the pregnancy, or giving birth, bringing the baby home from the hospital or even raising the Bebe Bird at home. For me, the shift is the little things, like, finding myself asking questions such as, "Why were throwing spiderwebs on the little girl in the park Spiderman?" or for that matter, calling someone Spiderman.  There's discussions as to why we can't run down the street like a "nudey" but can totally run around the house nudey, all day, if you so choose.

Then there are moments when we hear ourselves, in all seriousness have a conversation that go a little something like this:

What do you say?" Z birds mama asks Z.  "I'm sorry." Z responds, not quite looking at Bebe Bird running along side him.

"For?" his mama prompts.  "I'm sorry for..." he looks up at his mama and then to Bebe Bird "for grabbing your nose" he says to his best friend.  "That's right" Z's mama responds in all seriousness, "You're sorry for grabbing his nose ."

She and I stop.  We look at one another as the last syllable in the last sentenced tumble out of her mouth and we start to laugh.  We pause & look around, she pushing the double stroller, Bebe Bird running down the Park Slope street in his Superman t-shirt, his cape following closely behind and we quietly laugh, tears running down our face.  "I used to have conversations as to whether Tiffany's would deliver the diamond necklace in time for a December cover shoot. Now, we're handling disputes between 2.5 year old boys about grabbing each others face."  We laugh at the Super Shift that has entered our parental orbit.

Another shift I remember occurred about a year after Bebe Bird was born.  Papa and I were out celebrating a friends birthday at a new bar in the hip Brooklyn neighborhood, Williamsburg.  We were sipping cocktails, laughing with friends and dancing our hearts out (me more than he).

Out celebrating 

Then, it happened, the reminder that our world had shifted ever so slightly.  The DJ spun"I'm Sexy and I Know It".  The music played over the loud speakers-everyone signing. As Papa & I belted out the lyrics we realized our version was a little different.  We realized, we were signing Elmo's version "I'm Elmo & I Know It" instead.  We didn't know the lyrics to the original song. 

The Super Shift applies to 2 year olds as well.  Oh, 2's they  have such a bad rap.  It's rare one will hear how awesome 2 is.  But sometimes it is.  Really!  And sometimes your patience is tested.  I remember my meditation teacher saying "Oh good, what a wonderful opportunity to practice patience." when he learned I was pregnant with Bebe Bird.

Recently, a morning at our Brooklyn home went a little something like this: "Eat your breakfast" we say *struggling to get out of the house & Bebe Bird to playschool on time.  "Come on, Bud, your eggs are getting cold" I hear myself say, sounding too much like my own parents during the morning rush of my childhoods past.  "Eat your breakfast like a big boy" Papa encourages only to be interrupted with Bebe Birds quick retort "I not big today. Today, I'm a baby!"

We stop.  Wait.  What?

And so it is.  Today, my 2.5 year old is a baby. 

In the park recently a friends 2.5 year old daughter answered her mama with a "gee" and a "ga".  "She's only talking to me in baby talk." her mother explains.  "This doesn't happen with anyone else.  She does this with just me."

The Super Shift of 2.5 year old

Exhale!  I'm not the only mama parenting a 2.5 year old baby.  I've come to learn that 2 years old is a the year of tiny shifts; shifting from diapers to underpants, from a crib to a toddler bed, from sippy cups to big kid cups, from strollers to scooters and those tiny shifts lead to one big Super Shift.  Two years old reminds of a baby being in a cocoon and at 3 years old a big kid emerges in your baby's place. And I am again reminded how quickly time flies, and that shifts happen and things change.  And I find such shifting to be the best & most challenging part of living.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my baby/big kid & I are going to rock out to Elmo on the iPod.