A Distinct Case of Toddleritis (a.k.a. The Third Shoe)

The patient (21 months, male) was brought to me by his mother. He was perfectly content. His mother explained the events immediately preceding.

Well, I was cooking breakfast, checking my email, talking to my older son, and emptying the dishwasher when Mica -- the patient -- came to me "ah - ahing" with enthusiasm.

He was carrying some shoes, which he dumped on the ground and then plopped himself onto his bottom. He grabbed a shoe and started banging the shoe on his foot. He wanted me to put it on, so I did. Then I did the other one.

I stood up to walk away (breakfast was burning) but he shrieked, grabbed the remaining (third) shoe, and started banging it on his foot.

"But Mica," I said, "You already have two shoes on. That one is extra."

But he didn't want to hear it. He kept banging the shoe on his foot, his way of saying, "Put it on, Mama! Put it on!"

Soon he was crying hysterically, cradling the third shoe to his tiny, pissed-off chest.

The signs of toddleritis are clear:

• apparent independence ---> carrying the shoes

• not yet developed skills ---> mom puts on shoes

• not yet developed reasoning and logic ---> believing three shoes equals three feet

• tears of total agony ---> must wear three shoes or I will die! I cannot accept NOT wearing three shoes!

• inordinate affection for the inanimate object (cradling the shoe), though this can also present as utter contempt for the item (throwing the item, banging the item, etc.)

• and last but not least, changeable nature ---> he's totally fine now... and this close to being totally distraught about the next thing.