By Cassie Hilt of Chronicles of Motherhood 

If you’ve lived through the toddler years, you know it’s no stroll through the park. Living with toddlers is like getting a sharp stick in the eye and a bikini wax at the same time. Toddlers are good at what they do, despite their lack of real world experience. The following list is a code that any good toddler tries their best to abide by:

1. Thou shall not eat thy food. If you get lucky, you’ll breed a child that will try any kind of food under the sun. However, if you are in the 90^th percentile of most parents, your kid will be disgusted by most foods (especially anything green). In a situation where they are starving, you will find that after about 2 ½ bites, they will be completely full. For about 7 minutes.

2. Thou shall not sleep past 6:15 a.m. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Monday or a Sunday, toddlers will be up before the sun rises if they can help it. But rest assured, they’re very thoughtful creatures, so they will make sure to wake you up as well. Isn’t that sweet of them?

3. Thou shall obey the teachings of Caillou. Anyone who has seen Caillou knows that kid is a little punk. A whiny, annoying turd of a child. If your toddler sees him on TV, he will start to act and emulate this behavior. They will become little followers of this bald-headed little child.

4. Thou shall never be consistent. Toddlers are infamous for their erratic behavior. One day they will proclaim their love for Triscuits. You will go to Costco and buy 2 gigantic boxes of said crackers. Upon seeing them, your toddler will writhe with unrest because he HATES Triscuits now. Just when you think you have them figured out, BOOM.

5. Thou shall always throw a tantrum at the most inopportune time. If you weren’t already aware, toddlers enjoy the sound of their shrieking voice. They especially enjoy throwing temper tantrums in the following situations:

*While you are on the phone

*In the car (during long road trips is preferred)

*In the checkout line

*During a social gathering (after you just finished bragging about how well behaved they are)

6. Thou shall never pick up thy toys. Like, never, ever, ever pick them up. Get used to walking hunched over because you will constantly be picking things up off the floor.

7. Thou shall poop everywhere except in thy toilet.  The potty training stage of toddler-hood is no joke. I mean, it seems like common sense to poop in a big white bowl, right? Not so much. However, there are many other places they enjoy pooping, such as behind the couch, in their underwear, in the tub, on the kitchen floor, on the slide at school…the list goes on and on.

8. Thou shall never perform a task quickly. An interesting thing about toddlers is that most of the time they are constantly going non-stop. However, any time you need to be somewhere or need to leave the house, they will move at a snail’s pace. I’m talking freakishly slow. And if you try to help them speed up the process, they will need to start the task over from square one.

9. Thou shall have no inside voice.  Toddlers have no happy medium when it comes to their vocal chords. It’s an ON/OFF switch (and OFF only happens if they are sleeping or watching the bald-headed child as referred to in #3). I recommend ear-plugs and wine for your sanity.

10. Thou shall maintain the balance of naughty/adorable child. This is the most important commandment for toddlers. It allows them to be irrational, dramatic, and crazy little humans, all while being sweet and adorable enough so that you don’t get rid of them. This is a skill that is mastered over time, but when used correctly, is 100% effective.

If you haven’t had the joy of experiencing a toddler already, I hope this article gives you fair warning into their behavior. Kudos to you if you have already had the luxury of experiencing everything on this list. You deserve a glass of wine and a Netflix binge. Cheers!

This post was originally published on The Chronicles of Motherhood. 

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About the Author

Cassie is a working mother of two small kiddos. She works on maintaining the delicate balance of work/mommy/wife life, and making sure she doesn’t run out of wine before payday. She enjoys writing in her free time and chronicling the adventures of being a mom. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and visit her website The Chronicles of Motherhood.