Toddler Treatment: For When Adulthood Is Getting the Best of You

I often joke that my natural rhythms make me feel like a toddler — I’m up at the crack of dawn and ready to go, go, go until I exhaust myself around 4pm, and then someone needs to give me a snack and a bath and put me to bed. But alas, I am single, live alone, and that responsible someone is going to have to be me.

It’s hard to be both the toddler and the parent at the same time!

However, I’ve noticed that giving myself the Toddler Treatment has had massively positive implications for other areas of my life, so even if you’re not like me (waking up at daybreak), here’s why treating yourself like a toddler can be beneficial:

👉 When you don’t want to do the thing you need to do: ask the cranky toddler in your brain, “Why don’t you want to do the task?” Sometimes you’ll get a good reason, like “I’m hungry/thirsty/tired” but often you’ll get a “mwehhhhh” and then you can say, “Okay, I get it, but let’s get up. One step at a time, you can do it.”

👉 If you’re in a bad mood for “no apparent reason”: water, snack, or nap. Probably all three.

👉 When you’re feeling anxious and squiggly: Playtime, fresh air, run around and get your wiggles out, schedule a playdate with a friend

👉 When you’re feeling scattered and stressed: Put yourself on a consistent schedule. Toddlers need a sense of predictability in order to feel safe — and so do you! Tell the inner toddler, “Take your time. Go slow if you need to. You don’t need to do it all right now.”

👉 When you made a mistake: what would you say to a little munchkin who knocked a glass of juice off the table? Now say that to yourself.

👉 When you can’t figure out a problem: somewhere inside of you theres a little kiddo saying, “I can do it mysewf 😠” — just ask for help bb, it’s really not that big of a deal.

When you’re a toddler, the heaviness of the real world hasn’t pulled you under yet, but you’re also more likely to express a fuller range of emotions than you do in adulthood. So, while I’m not saying you should throw yourself on the floor in the middle of Target when you can’t afford the new blender you want, what I am saying is, things can feel less difficult if you actually let that toddler have a voice more often.

Sometimes, you just have to find a way to block out all the noise of adulthood and just focus on the basics.

Toddler Treatment means you can be both the little expressive kiddo and the grown up at the same time. My therapist always told me to “check in with your little girl.” It took me a long time to get on board with that, but eventually I realized she was on to something.

Even though I’m in my 30s, Little Me™ is still in there, wishing she could spend all day doing art projects and playing dress up — but now I’m an adult that has to figure out how to do her taxes. Both things can be true, and I owe it to myself to let her out.