Can Your Impulses!

My son Eli is a constant source of entertainment and more recently mortification. I try to understand what makes him do the things he does every day. When I ask him why he suddenly throws something across the room, I'm consistently met with the answer "I don't know." Hmm...

Today I wanted to do something special that was just for him (giving him back some of the attention he lost to the baby) so we went to the Children's Museum. He did pretty well while we were there and even shared his toys with strangers, which is unusual for him (although he kept loudly calling them 'that kid'). But then on our way back to the parking lot, we had to walk through a large area that was under construction. It was lunch time and there were construction men sitting around eating lunch everywhere. Eli saw a can of Pepsi sitting on a curb (just opened, and presumably belonging to a thirsty worker) and decided to kick it. Pop went everywhere and the cold can went down into some nearby dirt. I gasped and quickly reprimanded my child. Then I looked around to see if someone was going to react but no one seemed to notice. So we walked on. I can imagine that later someone looking to quench their thirst was awfully irritated at the sight of their can lying sideways in the dirt (but really, was leaving your can on the curb a very good idea?).

Is it that toddlers have not yet mastered impulse control? At what age can we expect to greet this welcome change? Have I mastered impulse control yet? One wouldn't think so to observe me around any kind of baked goods. Maybe next time I walk by someone's can sitting on the ground, I'll kick it over, just to see how it feels. I'm with you Eli!