She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

Mila is and will likely always be the tiny person with the big independent streak. For as much as she is very much so 2, she's also very much so 22. She can do it herself, thank you very much.

It doesn't matter what "it" is. She knows she can do it. Alone. Without you. Buh-bye.

I've often wondered how far she is willing to take her "I don't need you" thing, so when we happened to be at Home Depot essentially alone, I decided to find out. We had the outside area to ourselves as I sought out a few things for the pond, so when Mila ran down an aisle towards the back, I made like Elsa and let it go.

"Bye, Mila," I said, just to make sure she knew I wasn't chasing her down.

"Bye, mommy," she threw over her shoulder as she kept running.

It's lovely that she cares about being left alone and stuff.

As Mila ran off, I surveyed the scene. There was nobody around, save the cashier across the garden center. There was nowhere for Mila to go thanks to walls and fences. Really, the only damage she could do would have been to pick up a giant brick and throw it. Which, well, the bricks weigh more than her. That's why she's still the Tiny Human. If she wanted to pull off a Herculean moment, so be it.

So I let her take off.

I watched from another aisle to see how long it would take her to worry that she didn't know where I was.

And I waited.

And I waited.

Mila couldn't see me and she TOTALLY DIDN'T CARE.

I gave it over 10 minutes before I finally snagged the kid. LITERALLY. Ten minutes. There was not a single second in which she cared that she didn't know where I was. She poked at the bricks, walked in circles, talked to herself, and basically gave no honey badgers that she was alone in a giant scary store.

This. This kid who will wander into the big world all by herself without hesitation - she is the same kid who recently hasn't slept more than 10 minutes without touching me.

Nobody ever said toddlers make any sense...