One Word, and One Meltdown

Mommy: "Do you like this hat Roman?"

Roman: "Yeah!"

Roman smiling proudly with the hat.

So of course, I had to buy it. While Roman had a huge smile on his face, mine did too. For the first time, my son answered a question I asked.

The pure thrill of that moment, made me well up with tears. We've been working on communicating with him for over a year. Roman, now two-and-a-half-years-old, has numerous meltdowns a day. Yes, I'm well aware that is the behavior of a typical toddler, but his tantrums involve fits of rage, head banging and even lashing out at my husband or myself.

We've been told by his speech therapist those fits of rage are more fits of frustration. Frustration over the fact that he's trying to communicate, but can't. Frustration over the fact that how he's communicating with us sometimes, and we just don't understand.

So, you see, that one single syllable word, meant more to me than I could ever explain.

Where he should be.

Between the ages of 2 and 3, most children:

• Speak in two- and three-word phrases or sentences

• Use at least 200 words and as many as 1,000 words

• State their first name

• Refer to themselves with pronouns (I, me, my or mine)

• Can be understood most of the time by family or close friends

"If you're able to understand only a few or none of your 2-year-old's words, talk to your child's doctor about scheduling an evaluation. Speech delay can be an early sign of other developmental issues."

Source: Mayo Clinic

One Meltdown...

After the trip to the store, with the fireman hat in hand, we made our way to the mall. My mom, visiting for the weekend, rented one of those strollers that look like a car. My son, is OBSSESSED with cars. And I truly mean, OBSSESSED.

Roman enjoying his new hat in the car on the way to the mall.

He was so excited to sit in the car and turn the wheel, which by the way made the "vroooom" sound with every turn.

We soon walked to the play area in the middle of the food court. I took his shoes off and told him it was time to get out and play. He excitedly walked with me to the area where several kids were giggling, running and just having a good time. He walked in, got excited, then turned around and left. I tried again, he walked in, turned around and walked straight to this car stroller.

During my third attempt to get him to socialize with the other kids, I tried to encourage him to stay in the play area, he got frustrated, threw himself on the ground and started banging his head on the padded floor.

Roman's obsession with cars extends to home as well. His favorite "truck."

I briefly looked around, and saw all the parents looking at us. No one said a word, but I felt like they were judging. Not only because my son was throwing a tantrum, but because he's a two-year-old in a 4-year-old's body. He's big for his age and I always feel like others expect more out of him than he can handle. I felt like we were on display. So I caved. I let him go back to the car, turn the steering wheel, and spin the tire.

The Questions in my Head

This incident, while it may seem small to many of you, makes me question every parenting decision I have made in the last two years.

I wonder, did isolating him to protect him from COVID, hinder his ability to socialize with kids his age? Did I do more harm than good? Is there more I could have done to make sure he was protected, but socializing him at the same time? How will this affect him for the rest of his life? Will he always be delayed?

As a mom, and I'm sure many other moms out there feel this as well, I fear and know I will continue asking myself these questions for the rest of my life.

Connect with me!

Please, feel free to reach out to me on social or email. I would love to hear your stories, share your stories on this platform, but also do the research and ask experts what we can do to give our kids the best future possible.