The best advice I was given as a new parent was “when your child is fussy, just throw them in water.”

Complete mood changer.

Ishu absolutely loves playing in the sink, drinking water, taking a bath. He even loves throwing water down on the floor and lapping it up like a dog.

Which is precisely what he did TWICE yesterday. Once on the floor. And then, once I cleaned that up, I was dumb enough to hand over my tumbler full of water. Which he then dumped on the couch.

I mean, you can’t even be mad at the kid.

If anyone is at fault here, it’s me. For handing him something that I know – full well – is going to be poured out almost immediately. He loves watching the water fall. He loves watching it spread out into a puddle. And, yes, he loves to lap it up like a dog.

Who needs sippy cups when you can lay on your belly and drink up? (Look ma, no hands!).

After the second water dump, I picked him up, took off his clothes, and threw him in the bath.

We spent almost 45 minutes in the tub yesterday and he was having a freaking ball. Items of choice: one bowl, one plastic Tupperware, and one Starbucks stopper stick.

As I sat there watching him splash around, I kept coming back to a conversation Bella and I were having a few weeks ago. We were talking about responding to toddlers and how, as a parent, I wanted to shift away from the antiquated “telling them what to do” and giving them consequences for something that they quite literally cannot control.

It’s in a toddler’s nature to be impulsive and curious.

At this point, I can predict what’s going to happen to a big cup of water. Or a bowl of food.

If Ishu decides to dump it on the ground, it’s not his fault. I’m the grown-up that can set him up for success. I’m the grown-up that has the ability to put his liquids in a cup he can handle, the grown-up that can place him in his high chair so he uses his tray to eat, instead of dumping the snack on the floor.

Sure, there are days I get upset.

But never upset at HIM for doing those things. Upset at the situation. Upset at myself for not going the extra step because now I have five more steps to take because he just did exactly what I knew he would do.

Anyway, all this to say, toddlers lack impulse control. And we shouldn’t blame THEM for the things they do. All we can do is take a deep breath and remember that – next time – maybe we don’t hand over the water tumbler.

On the bright side, my floor and my couch AND my toddler all look pretty spotless this morning from the nice cleaning they all got last night. So, in the end, win win win.