The Jungle Gym of Snacks

So I can see it now as my 2 year old enters school in a few years... The class is released for recess. All of the children run to the playground with happiness and playful anticipation. My son jumps down the stairs and he looks around deciding on a swing. Theres a child who wants him to climb the bars (jungle gym) with him.

I can see my son quietly looking at the bars and then looking at the other child and saying "Why would I climb those bars? Where do they go? Whats my motivation?"

The other child stares at him in in confusion and silence. "Huh?"

My son, "Those bars don't go anywhere, whats the point of climbing bars to nowhere and nothing?" And then he runs for the swings.

Why you ask? Well the current set of bars my 2 year old has mastered, his jungle gym of choice...our pantry. He goes to the door, reaches up to turn on the light, opens the door, walks inside, and then closes the door behind him, and begins to climb. Now before you ask me "you let your son play in the pantry?" let me keep one step ahead and say no. I open the door and ask him "what are you doing?", and take him off the jungle gym and place him back on the floor.

He will reply with, "I am hungy" (yeah he isn't great with the R's yet).

"Well what do you want to eat?" I ask.

"I don know" as he shrugs his shoulders (which is absolutely adorable). Then he will close the door, while he is still inside.

This will happen every time he decides he needs a snack. The level he reaches on his jungle gym depends on how quickly I reach the pantry once he has gone inside. He is a quiet little guy when he wants to be.

Think about it, the newer pantries have those great white metal shelving in them. Each level is another level of snacks. Where do you keep the snacks that you don't want your toddler to grab? On the top of course! That's where daddy's hot chips are, the Halloween candy, the cereal boxes (just cause they are tall), the cookies, etc! So with every level of difficulty another level of snacks is revealed. Who wants to snack on those potatos and onions on the bottom?

So I flash back to the playground at school and realise that my son will see no challenge or reward to climbing bars to nowhere and nothing. Well until he learns to scare the hell out of mommy by climbing to the top and jumping off. But hopefully we are a ways from that.