My Little Girl - The Ultimate Jekyll & Hyde Character

Toddlers; you don't know whether you're coming or going with them. Well, that's certainly the case of my little girl anyway! There's very little that I wouldn't do for her, and seeing her happy, smiling face gives me the perfect pick-me-up after a hard day at the office; but I can't say there's much that works me harder either. Mentally (and sometimes physically), she drains me like nothing has before, albeit in a way that I wouldn’t live without (hangovers aside). I’ve never met anyone more tiresome, and I’m not just referring to the middle-of-the-night wake up calls, but there’s no one that I am more delighted to have tire me out.

Her genuine happiness as she screams “daddy!” when I walk though the door, akin to a soldier returning from war, is contagious. Such elation often lasts a mere five to ten minutes though, at which point she'll commence with whatever she was doing prior to my arrival, when it'll be a flip of a coin as to what mood she's in. There is a multitude of factors that can determine this; with tiredness, temperature and illness being right up there; but, if I'm being honest, it generally comes down to whether she's getting what she wants. As I’m sure is the case with most kids that age, if she is unable to do as she desires, it’s as if the world has ended.

The tendency to meltdown has almost become her trademark; although, thankfully, it is not all that she brings to the party. She’s the most caring toddler I have ever seen (although, I must admit, I haven’t had a great deal of experience with kids that age, or kids in general), and is always good for a hug or a kiss. She can regularly tell when her mummy is upset and tries her best to provide comfort; although the tide can turn at the drop of a hat. It may be that she's unable to find her favourite Teletubby, to literally fit a square peg in a round hole, or that she may just be getting a little tetchy when it’s close to her bedtime, but screaming will often ensue.

The saying ‘changes more often than the British weather’ comes to mind when it comes to her temper. She’ll go from being deliriously happy to extremely distraught in the blink of an eye; before finally settling on somewhere between melancholy and contentedness. She'll request something of me and change her mind in an instant, and it's not worth my life if I'm not on the same page. My madam is very particular, and I've known her to run to her favourite spot for a tantrum after I've committed the crime of cutting her banana up, rather than allow her to pick it apart and leave each piece in its own little dwelling. Five minutes later however, she was sat on her mother's knee, singing along to one of her favourite nursery rhymes on TV.

No matter the time of day, what we’re doing or where we are, a day with my eldest brings with it a real rollercoaster of emotions. Regardless of anything, I expect that my girl’s mood swings are up there with the best of them. She’s a real Jekyll & Hyde character, and keeping up with her is undoubtedly one of the most trying things in my life, not that I mind it too much.

By Calum Dewsbury