Toddlers very much live in the “here and now,” which is an admirable quality in many ways. This means when you are cuddling in the glider with your little one – they are completely present with you. The “here and now” mentality also accounts for their unparalleled ability to love unconditionally. This stems from a toddlers instinct to quickly forget and forgive offenses. Toddlers are also very curious about the world and have limited ability to tune out stimuli from their environment. This curiosity facilitates the rapid learning that is so critical at this age. However, living in the moment and abundant curiosity can negatively impact an increase attention span in toddlers. Toddlers’ attention is often fleeting, jumping from the task at hand to the most recently occurring stimuli. When engaging in independent play, children have a tendency to give the most sustained, longest attention to preferred activities. While independent play is…