Shake, Tumble and Roll: The Techniques of the Tripping Toddler

Aria moments away from employing the "Thud" technique.

As Aria learns to move around more quickly, she doesn't have a lot of patience for slowing down. This causes for a lot of odd dances to stay upright and, occasionally, falling flat on her face or tucus. Now, for those parents who have not yet been through the "learning to walk" stage, there are several different falling techniques your young toddler will employ. I will now explain them in depth, so as to aid in the understanding of curious parents.

The first is what Josh and I simply refer to as "Thud" because there's no glamorous ending; it's just a simple "THUD" on the ground flat on their rear, as though they suddenly meant to be sitting down. After a look of mild confusion to indicate that they did not indeed intend to be sitting at that present moment, the toddler can return to a standing and/or walking position quite easily.

The next would be the "Wobble, Wobble, One Touch." This takes place when the toddler starts to lose his or her balance, but instead of falling backwards, they begin to fall forward. This must be avoided at all cost, so as to save the parents expensive medical or future dental bills. Thus, after wobbling around attempting to maintain their balance, the toddler will then lean forward, touching one hand to the ground to stable his or herself. At this point, once they have reached a safe position, they can either lower themselves to the ground safely, or push themselves back up again.

The third is what I tend to call the "Much Too Downward Dog." This occurs when, unlike the last technique, there is no time to wobble around and steady oneself; instead, the toddler just throws both arms down in yet another attempt to avoid hitting the ground face first. Unfortunately, since there was no time to regain balance, the toddler will then just fall over sideways, while still maintaining a nearly perfect "Downward Dog" stance. This technique is best utilized when in a large open area, so as to not hit one's head during the Downward Dog Descent. Even if this technique is pulled off flawlessly with no injury, there still tends to be a tad residual trauma left over, that may cause for a wimper or a full-blown hysteria fit, depending on the child and their state of mind.

I hope these three basic techniques, their explanations and their expected emotional outcomes will be of use to you and your child as you go through the stage of learning to quickly maneuver oneself about.