In the previous post, I made reference to The Youngest's penchant for throwing things down the stairs and hiding things as well. Again: Typical toddler stuff, right? I suppose, but the First Two did not exhibit such behavior.
Well, now that he has reached full toddler-hood, mealtime with Junior has become a full-contact sport.
We think: OK, let's give the little guy a balanced meal. Fruits. Vegetables. Dairy. Something to drink. Try a little of everything.
He thinks: TARGET PRACTICE!
Yikes! Now, The Wife and I are trained to watch him closely when he is drinking milk from the sippy cup. That's because, after he has had his fill of the white stuff, his eyes widen and ... BOOM! ... he becomes Roger Clemens -- firing his best sippy-cup fastball at the floor. Of, if we don't watch it, at an unsuspecting sibling or parent.
Similarly, if he has had enough of the waffles, cereal or bananas I routinely feed him for breakfast, they become litter on the floor. A stern-voiced "No!" does little to stop this two-armed bandit.
And lastly, for his favorite trick: If we are not watching or paying attention, this future Hulk Hogan grimaces and yanks the tray right off his booster seat. Aaaaah! The tray -- and all of its contents -- come crashing to the floor.
Let's just say the broom and dustpan get lots of action these days.
Again, this is our third go-around in the toddler phase, but the first time we have had to deal with JFOs (Junior's Flying Objects). Any suggestions on how to deal with this? The stern voice is usually met with gleeful laughter. It's funny to write about it, but not so funny when mushed-up banana gets stuck in your hair.
Have a great evening, and let's hope it stops raining soon!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
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2 comments:
That English nanny on TV (who seems to do miracles with the assigned families) would recommend sitting him on the "naughty stool'' every time he does this until he connects the punishment with the crime, but I'm not sure I would have had the patience to do that every single time when mine were toddlers. But with the families she handles, it seems to really work.
We use "the stair" as our timeout area -- the bottom stair of our stairway. We think Junior will be spending time there, but we also think it may be too early for him to understand crime and punishment. Thanks for your thoughts.
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