When your kids are in the toddler phase, the demands are really unlike any other season of parenting.

I'm John Fuller joined by Dr. Danny, who heads up the focus on the family parenting team and Danny what

stands out to you about those years the toddler years what two three is yeah

besides the messes and the the realization that there's a human being here that I don't have full control over.

That's a, but here's one. I was writing, I had some papers, some important papers on the kitchen

table and I'm sure there are plenty of parents that can relate to this.

And my daughter knocked over her milk and it spilled all over.

It went on my papers.

She was just being careless, right?

But she was a toddler at the time.

And I just looked at her and I had to really self-regulate every single emotion that was just

popping there, that just reactive emotions.

As I looked at her, she looked at me with eyes wide open and she said that wasn't supposed

to happen.

She was about four years old and so I know that's on the later years there of the toddler

stage but that's just such a reminder for me at that time that the toddler years are very much about that wasn't supposed to happen and you adjust to that and we had a just a good moment together just cleaning it up and we put all the sheets out and dried them

out.

We extended them out.

She got to see what kind of mess it can create, but we cleaned it together and it was fine it was a good moment in our

relationship we're able to smile and that was a powerful moment for me to

hear those words that wasn't supposed to happen because I took that into other years where I would

see something in a day and I go yeah that wasn't supposed to happen what am I going to do now and

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