One of the hardest things about having children so far apart in age is switching my brain back and forth when dealing with them.  You know, things like reminding the teen about changing the sheets on her bed and then turning around to see a butt naked toddler licking the fridge.

That’s a quick flip of the switch right there.

Lately though, I have found that there are many similarities between toddlers and teens.  In finding these similarities, it has made my job a teeny bit easier.

Just a teeny bit.

First of all they both start with ‘T’, but that’s the obvious one.

1.  They are both into fake news.  

Example:

Me to Toddler:  Did you poop your pants?

Her:  *shakes head no* while refusing to look up from puzzle

Me:  Then what’s that stinky smell?

Her:  …….

Me to Teen:  Did you wash all of your dirty clothes that were piled up in the closet floor?

Her:  *shakes head yes* while refusing to look up from guitar

Me:  Then what’s that stinky smell?

Her:  …….

 

2.  They both like really annoying music. 

Example:

Me to Toddler:  I’m tired of listening to The Hokey Pokey.

Me to Teen:  I’m tired of listening to Post Malone.

 

3.  They both use a weird language that only their kind understands. 

Toddler:   “gock” = clock, “eh-mo” = Elmo and “BopBop”= mommy

Teen:  “you’re so extra” = doing the absolute most for no good reason, “nub” = dork

 

4.  They both get mad about the most random things

Example:

Toddler falls on the floor into a total meltdown because I gave her the green cup instead of the orange one.

Teen puts on her best mad face because I told her we are moving to Alabama.  Just kidding.  I simply waved goodbye to her as she stood at the bus stop.

 

5.  They both don’t want ANYONE to look in their general direction. 

Example:

Toddler screams for 45 minutes during the car ride home because her sister looked over at her foot.

Teen says, “Can you tell ____ to stop looking at me?  SHE’S BEING ANNOYING.”

 

6.  They both want to wear inappropriate clothing. 

Example:

Me to Toddler:  We don’t wear diapers on our heads.

Me to Teen:  We don’t wear sport shorts in 23 degree weather.  (At least she had on socks with her Birkenstocks?)

 

7.  They both enjoy strange hairstyles. 

Example:

Toddler wears a high top waterfall-style ponytail in the center of her head.

Teen wears a fanned out 50s-style bun with whispys all down in her face.

 

8.  You tell them the same thing over and over again. And over. And over. And over.

Example:

Me to Toddler:  Take the paci out of your mouth to talk.

Me to Teen:  Take the earbuds out of your ears to talk.

So see?  Now that you’re thinking about this, you’re figuring out that they really ARE the same.  And that makes it easier, right?  WRONG.  It’s still the trickiest of tricks trying to go between both ages.  Because right now the teen is about to go play her guitar followed by yet ANOTHER 30 minute bath (what a life!) while the toddler is filling her cheeks with craft poof balls.

Bless it.