the art of dancing with your toddler

My little guy has one toy, a train, that sparked some fun the other day. It plays the silliest little song when you press one specific button. The song literally just goes, “WOW! A purple star! Star is what you are!” I wish I could record it for you, but you’ll just have to imagine it.

For some reason, every time this song played, he stopped what he was doing, looked at me or my hubby, and waved his arms, alternating each one up and down in the air in tune with it. It was the cutest thing.

Not long after the purple star dance, I was motivated to find a dance playlist out of our usual apps we use to play music during the day. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees came on – and he and I just rocked it. I probably looked like a total goofball, dancing like crazy, and mimicking his moves, which are essentially the following: arms waving up and down, getting in a slight squatting position and bouncing up and down, and kind of wiggling shoulders side to side. But I figured out how much he loves to dance. And I love how much he loves to dance.

Since then, we dance all the time. I find myself reaching for the remote to play a fun song whenever I can. We need them, those dance breaks. We need them for when it’s been a long day, full of frustrated grunts from my baby and me not knowing what he wants. We need them when I’m trying to get some things done, and he just wants me to be by his side every moment. We need them to brush off the crankiness we can both build up when we’ve spent all day together and one doesn’t understand the other. We need them to chase the blues away.

By shaking it all off, my little guy and I can get back to a more relaxed and fun place. Those crazy dance moves actually do their part to keep me sane. I call it the art of dancing with your toddler, but really, it’s just momma getting her groove back.

What do you do when you feel frustrated, especially while you’re with your little one? What helps you get back in the swing of things?

Our favorites:

• Taylor Swift (he’s going through  a 1989 phase right now, but we’re working our way towards Red)
• Happy by Pharrell
• I Like to Move It from the Madagascar soundtrack
• Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars (I sing along and censor it)
• Disco music
• Single Ladies by Beyonce (I’m convinced this is how he learned to say “uh oh”)