Tuesday, 25 September 2012
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Toddler = Recipe For Disaster
The other day while I was busy loading the dishwasher, my 16 month old son Avery ambled into the kitchen to, among other things, shake the living daylights out of the bottom rack of the dishwasher. I gave him this puzzled expression which he answered with an ear to ear grin. After proceeding to tell him to stop and removing his hands, which I am convinced have magnets or some other sticky property to them, he turned around and grabbed hold of the spigot to the nearby water cooler. To my disbelief, with one hand he leaned in and began pulling on it until it threatened to fall over on top of him, all the while smiling up at me with a "Watch this, Dad!" look on his face.Now, I didn't scold him or yell at him because I know that this is just par for the course with toddlers. What vexed my mind was the fact that destruction is the default setting for children. At every opportunity Avery is plotting (as much as a toddler can plot) his next target. He yanks down tablecloths. Throws toys in the toilet. Smacks the picture window in the living room. Mashes the keyboard on my laptop. Bangs on the piano with balled up fists. Pulls every single baby wipe out of the container. And, if allowed, will unravel the toilet paper roll until it sits in a gloriously unruly pile on the floor.
Why can't a child's default be the restoration of chaos? Wouldn't it be awesome if at every turn kids were turning off lights, picking up toys or unloading the dishwasher? But no... these things have to be taught. The process of which requires repetition, demonstration and ongoing discussion. Even so, some kids STILL don't seem to get it. There are certain things I've come to expect of a toddler that I don't think I should still have to worry about with my teenage boys. While they've mastered taking out the trash, they still don't seem to mind sleeping a bedroom so funky and piled with clothes that you'd need a map just to get from the door to the closet.
Someday all of my children will know the joy of keeping things clean and taking care of their possessions. Well, at least that's my prayer. Until then, a man can dream. And in the meantime, I'll keep rescuing my youngest son from any potential self-inflicted calamity.
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- From: MyxlDove@xanga
- Name: Myxl Dove
- Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
- About Me: Old Memories on display, New Ones added everyday.
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Comments (10)
Made me giggle... My son is just starting in the toddler scene... He is so different from my daughter. She too was adveturous but in a less destructive way.
Cute. :)
Ugh tell me about it! My daughter is almost 14 months old and her favorite activities include emptying my purse, unloading the dishwasher, pulling wipes or tissues out of boxes, and dumping things. Goofy kids.
Frustrating, yes, but it is not destruction for them. It's all experience. Learning to control their muscles, cause and effect, curiosity. I'm really sad to see that most of our society is easily frustrated by these activities, in which they are learning, and squash it every chance they get. I'm convinced this leads to squashing their sense of curiosity as they develop. I'm not saying it's okay for a toddler to destroy your house. But talk to them and show them the cause and effect. And has hard as it is, don't yell and scold when a child is simply being curious and experiencing new things. Let their curiosity thrive without feeling guilty for it.
My son was a climber.. Anything and everything he had to be on top of it.
With our daughter, who will be 2 in a month, she has been non stop since she got mobile. For a little while I thought I was safe.. She'd be a non climber.. then my son came into the living room with this sneaky smile on his face and I asked where his sister was.. "in the kitchen" came the reply.. I got up very cautiously and peeked around the corner.. there she was, sitting on the lazysusan on the kitchen table, happily spinning herself around with a bowl on her head. When she realized she was caught, I got a "hi mama" followed by a "hat!"... she was very proud of herself.. . now she climbs everything... i swear that girl in gonna give me a heart attack.. She has no fear.
haha, mine actually puts his toys away most of the time. But I do have to load the dishwasher "in stealth" if I don't want him to climb inside and play with the knives!
This is how kids learn cause and effect by trying to touch, pull, shake, hit, kick, grab, turn, spin (etc.) EVERYTHING they come in contact with. I had two toddlers at the same time and sometimes it felt like I was going to fall over from being so dizzy just chasing them around in circles. Sounds like your little man is a wonderful, healthy little boy who just wants to see what's going to happen next if he does x, y and z. I have to say that on average(Yes, moms, I know this is not always true) boys do tend to be a little more destructive than girls. They love to see things go BOOM or crash or plop. My daughter loves to build things with Legos, my son loves even more to kick it down and then thrash around in the rabble of the great fallen Lego castle.
He's 3 and he loves to smash like the hulk, throw like Jeter and kick like Beckham. The good thing is that I encourage him to help around the house and we make it a game. Try teaching your little guy fun little games that are also cleaning at the same time, like throwing his toys in a bin that you're holding. and you'll see him starting to do it on his own.
@LadyGwenivere@xanga - ha ha, that's really cute! (even though I'm sure you weren't thrilled) I have climbers too and there is hardly anything they can't find a way to get to.
@LALALANDFM@xanga - I wonder if girls are just less prone to destroy things through exploration. lol
@LondonsMommy - I think they're pre-programmed to gravitate toward tissue boxes and wipes in the same way they instinctively prefer cookies over broccoli.
@DirtyAndShaken@xanga - I agree that we should never squash curiosity and the process of discovery. And no toddler should ever be made to feel guilty for learning about this world that, for all intents and purposes, is COMPLETELY new to them!
@MyxlDove@xanga - That may be it. I'm an only girl and I remember the boy's breaking everything over me. lol My mother says it's a boy thing.