In Need Of Mischief

Luke has always been a really compliant toddler. When we're out in public, I rarely have to ask him to do something more than once. But lately, it looks more like anxiety than compliance.

Mind you, we have never given him cause to be anxious. We've never spanked him. We've never done the one-minute-per-year-of-age type time out. (In fact, "time out" for us tends to be, "Luke, do you need to come sit with me for a minute?") We try really, really hard not to yell or talk to him disrespectfully.

And yet, earlier today, we were at the food court at the mall and he pushed the stroller away from the table with his feet and I said, "Um..." And that was all it took for him to stop doing it, turn to me with a contrite look on his face, and say, "I'm sorry, Mama. I didn't mean to do that."

Dude. Seriously? You're two. You're supposed to be all kinds of unmanageable. (And to be fair, he does have his moments, but most of that stems from (a) resisting naps or (b) moving at the pace of molasses and being annoyed that I'm rushing him.)

I mean, his favorite activity at the toddler classes we've taken is...cleaning up at the end. I'm used to spirited, rowdy toddlers. I'm not entirely sure how to handle one who's so eager to please that if someone else looks like they might be slightly interested in a toy he has, he puts it down instantly instead of facing the (remote) possibility of a conflict.