Toddler

Every kid is different, but every toddler has the exact same two favorite words: "No" and "mine." Or, perhaps more accurately, "NO!" and "MIIIIINE!!!!" There's nothing funnier than watching one of these tiny tyrants stagger around the playground on a wild-eyed quest for MORE (another favorite word), claiming every stray shovel, pail, truck, and/or random piece of chalk in his path.

"Mine! Mine! Mine!" "Honey, I think that shovel belongs to this little boy." "NO!!!"

Well, it's funny in retrospect, anyway (my kids are bigger now). When you're in the trenches of toddlerdom, exhausting is probably a more appropriate term. Which is exactly why it can't hurt to find the humor in the "mine" phase while you're still dealing with it. My advice?

Print this list of a "Toddler's Rules of Possession" out and put it on the fridge for perspective.

Here, I'll even add a few extra for good measure:

11. If it's candy in the checkout line and I can reach it from my stroller, it's mine.

12. If you look like you kinda might want to play with it maybe, it's mine.

13. If I can scream louder than you, it's mine.

14. If I had something and you took it, EVERYTHING you have is mine.

15. If it's an overpriced, fragile souvenir at someplace like a zoo or aquarium gift shop and I smash it to bits when you're not looking, it's mine.

Which toddler "rules of possession" would you add to this list?

Image via bitsandpieces