I don't write much about the Big Kid these days because she's to that age where her privacy matters. Mila may do funny/aggravating/hilarious/dumb stuff, but it's all the same funny/aggravating/hilarious/dumb stuff that every other kid her age does. Alexis is old enough to be ... unique.
AND YET.
There are some things that all kids her age do.
I won't tell the story of what exactly it is that she did, but I will say this:
To every parent of every toddler, know this. While you may feel unappreciated when you're cleaning up spilled water while stepping on a LEGO and cutting French Fries into tiny, bite-sized bits, YOU ARE WAY MORE APPRECIATED THAN YOU REALIZE. Little kids do get it. They do understand that grown-ups do a lot of things for them. They don't deeply appreciate it, but yet they kind of do because when they don't get the grown-up support they want exactly the way they want it, their world falls apart.
I once handed Mila a green spoon when she wanted a blue spoon. She most definitely informed me that I wasn't helping the way I was supposed to help. She so eloquently expressed her displeasure that I still remember it TWO YEARS LATER. That's appreciation!
Big kids, though! BIG KIDS APPRECIATE NOTHING. I mean, some days they do, but then other days they expect the universe to be handed to them on a platter and are genuinely shocked when it's not.
So, when you're feeling like your toddler doesn't appreciate you, remember something -- IT WILL GET WORSE. There may come a time when your kid turns to you, rolls her eyes, and whines, "You never do anything for me." Those words may fall out of their face on a day when you've been awake since 5:00 am because of a dance competition and after you survived a dance team lunch you weren't planning to throw together and and and and ... just know, the appreciation is headed straight downhill. Enjoy those little kid "thank yous" while you can.
(On the flip side, when big kids KNOW they've screwed up, they'll do things like clean the house ... So.)