From the moment a child can stand on his own two feet, he begins reaching his little hands upward. This is the instinctive, human thing to do. In his simple way, the child is measuring.
He is measuring whether he can reach high enough to rip out his father’s heart.
He is not tall or wily enough to accomplish this goal in one stroke, so he satisfies himself with whittling down Daddy’s spirit by breaking all of his material possessions.
I have two categories of material possession that each of my boys has spent his late infancy and early toddlerhood trying to destroy.
The lesser of these is my CD collection. I spent decades carefully amassing this collection. They are all on my iPod now, but a CD is more concrete than a digital download and old people need to touch things to know they are real. A bookcase of my favorites still sits in the living room, near the seldom-used stereo.
It’s been the favorite hobby of every boy, at a certain age, to pull down the CDs, trod on the cases, and redistribute the inside media. My once pristine collection is a shambles. God help me if I want to play one of them ever again.
“What’s this one? Days of Future Passed. That’s a classic.”
“Better throw it on the ‘Classics to be Smashed’ pile.”
Why don’t I stop being stupid and just move them?
The only other place I have for them is that “storage” part of the basement where obsolete items live with the spiders until everyone agrees they should be thrown away. For God’s sake, they are not an old vacuum!
Also, it has become a battle of wills. These children need to learn they cannot defeat me by attacking my cherished belongings. Nothing is sacred in this war.
Besides, history predicts that the last of them will outgrow this habit in a few months and I can reorganize the remaining rubble once and for all. Time is on my side, you little freaks!
The other thing they have all yearned to destroy are my glasses. Unlike the CDs, I use my glasses. I’ve had the same pair for 10 years. This is a testament to the strength of my will, and the fact that I don’t have vision coverage.
As we watch TV, like the peaceful family I always intended us to be, a little hand will flash before my eyes and snatch my glasses. If snatching glasses were a recognized superpower, our house would be the Hall of Justice. Thank goodness for flexible frames.
I don’t know why they want me to have poor vision, unless it is to make it easier to convince me when it’s time to go off by myself and die, leaving the pride in the charge of younger males.
I’ve gotten pretty good a seeing the world through finger prints, which is good because there’s really no other way for me to see it.
I still have two who do this, though the older one makes a show of cleaning the lenses for me. This is not kindness; it is cunning. But I see right through him like three layers of thumb prints.
Meanwhile, I await the teen years, for the heart-tearing-out to begin in earnest.
Snoozing on the Sofa 
This was a riot. You had me at, “…and old people need to touch things to know they are real.” That is so me with my DVDs. I know I don’t need them, but I want them in front of me. Owning something in a cloud just doesn’t cut it. Hang in there with the battle for possession….but you’re right when they’re teens you’re done in….perhaps you should start looking for a good counselor now? 🙂
Maybe they are just trying to push me into the virtual world, so I won’t be left behind. Got to keep me fresh so they can stomp on my heart as teenagers.
CDs, glasses, and hearts. Oh, my, yes. Dave and I like to “reframe” this into our hearts are “growing”… but sometimes my heart truly feels as shattered as those CDs and glasses. And windows 😀
Well, if it means my heart is growing then we must be going for the record here. Maybe they can exhibit my huge heart at the 4H barn in the county fair.
You may not want to give them any ideas!
Ripping out the hearts of parents…bingo. I have started recollecting CDs. I sold my bunch in a garage sale but now I have a $500 car with a CD player and no iPod connector. Unfortunately for The Partridge Family’s greatest hits, the battery died in my fancy car and I should do something about that soon…or not.
Maybe you should spend $1000 installing a USB port in your new car. You can always worry about the battery later.
I might just look for a $600 car.
Oh, why must they act like children? Oh, right, they are children.
That’s no excuse.
Don’t worry, pretty soon they’ll be older and then they’ll just take all your money…
I suspected they were just laying the groundwork for an extortion racket.
[…] post, Exposed: the toddler battle plan, is a letter of commiseration to fellow parents who know exactly what it’s like to have their […]
Ah, i know this one well,I know people who have moved loads of things out of the way but i refuse! I won’t be ruled by my toddlers any more than I have to be haha
Way to fight the good fight! Stay strong.
What is it with toddlers and CD’s? I manage to teach Dude not too touch any of it, only to have a friend of mine’s kid destroy several cases. Needless to day, we’re not friends anymore.
They are trying to push us into the virtual age. Pretty soon, they’ll be teaching us how to manage the Cloud.
Noooooooo! Not the cloud!!!
Whatever it is, it’s coming for us.