Reatha McCafferty

Pam wrote:
Expect it and when it happens grin, wryly, and say to yourself, "Oh, I
expected something like this to happen and I was right. I must be
psychic." <BEG>


Oh, my daughter was always into the crayons. There was no keeping them up
from her - EVER. We cleaned the walls once and then decided that paint
would have to be done when we decided to move (we lived in an apartment).
When we cleaned the walls, we discovered MOM written on the wall. I looked
at my husband and asked him how you reprimanded your child for learning to
write with you in mind. I even had to call my mom and tell her about it, it
was too cute. We never appreciated the "mural" of crayon all over the walls
and the ceiling (they had bunk beds), but we always reminded that coloring
was for paper not the wall. The only thing we couldn't paint over or get
off was a pink highlighter she had gotten one time, it kept bleeding through
even the primer on the wall when we painted. Very faint, at least. Some of
the other things my kids did really put coloring on the wall in
perspective - there were worse and more damaging things they (especially my
daughter) could come up with to do - and they did. Just my 2 cents worth.
Reatha McCafferty in OH

Mark and Rheta Wallingford

Our 2yo is a whirlwind. If there is something she's not supposed to do,
she's doing it. At the library she's trying to climb the bookshelves
and run up and down the ramp. Distraction doesn't work, I end up just
trying to keep her from getting hurt the entire time we're there. Our
Homeschool group got a great deal at the local bowling lanes, we can
bowl for 2 hours at $6.50 per person - includes shoes. Vivien doesn't
like to bowl but Isabel loves it so I just signed her up and brought
stuff for Vivi, my 2yo, to do. At the end of the 2 hours Vivi had been
in every nook and cranny at the bowling alley, and when we went to go I
turned around and she had disappeared again. She was all the way down
the far lane that led to the door that goes behind the lanes! I caught
up with her just before she got through the door. I would like some
good advice to keep her out of trouble without always having to say
"NO!"

She loves our cats (3) but she hurts them. She'll walk up and grab them
by the throat and pick them up. She sits on them! My response to this
point has been "You are hurting her, honey . let her go." She's been
bit and scratched and still keeps going after them. I feel like I say
"no" or "not" a lot to this child . "not here" "not that". Advice from
those that have been there would be a big help. Do I just avoid places
for now? We take her to as many places as we can where she can climb
and jump, we have a mini trampoline that is in the living room for her
to jump on instead of the furniture (we've already been through one
couch and love seat), the walls are colored here as well <g>.


Rheta



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 24/03/2004 07:31:33 Pacific Standard Time,
wallingford@... writes:


> Do I just avoid places
> for now? We take her to as many places as we can where she can climb
> and jump, we have a mini trampoline that is in the living room for her
> to jump on instead of the furniture (we've already been through one
> couch and love seat), the walls are colored here as well <g>.
>

Wow, Rheta, your daughter sounds like mine!!!!!! Right down to your
description of the library trip, it's as if you were with us two weeks ago. My son is
8.5, and we try to do trips with other unschooling friends. sometimes
theyare a disaster and sometimes great. If there is lots of room and fun stuff to
do, we are ok, but I find that dd2.5 gets so stimulated and excited by
experiences it can get wild really fast.
I find I have to be really up for the challenge, otherwise we are best to
stay home.Some days I worry that ds is not getting needs met, other times I can
tell myself it is not forever. I am going to try to leave her with Grandma
soon, sometimes I will take Grandma along to help or a young kid or one of my
friends will offer to help.
At home, we have a huge house, with a small climber in the livingroom, and a
great big sundeck. WE have a trampoline outside(with a net) and swings and
lots of bike rides and walks. Those things have helped, along with her having
some friends that are a little bit older to play with her. It has been an amazing
journey with this busy little bee, and certainly has gotten us moving around
here.!!!!!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

pam sorooshian

On Mar 24, 2004, at 7:20 AM, Mark and Rheta Wallingford wrote:

> I would like some
> good advice to keep her out of trouble without always having to say
> "NO!"

My oldest was JUST like that. I thought all 2 yo's were like that,
didn't realize how much more watching she needed than other kids. But
one evening I was at a backyard barbeque at a very rich friend's
"house" - and I was following Roya around the back yard (we called it
their national park <G> - it had woods, creek, a cabin, and a lake) and
I took a 3 second breather, handing her off to a friend to watch for a
few minutes, and another person at the party said, "Boy, I noticed you
REALLY have your hands full with her." I did a double-take - this
person had SEVEN children under 11 years old and she thought "I" had my
hands full with my one?

I started taking my eyes off of her for a minute at a time <g> and
noticed that not ALL 2 and 3 year olds were truly as into EVERYTHING as
she was.

Then I had more children and they were nothing like her in that regard.

You're fine. There is no answer other than to watch her all the time -
this is the time for it, it won't last. Call in reinforcements when
possible, to give yourself a break. She does sleep occasionally, right?
Plan to use that time wisely. Choose where you go so that it'll be
more safe for the younger sibling. Bowling alleys aren't the only place
that may not work well <g>.

-pam
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

Tara

Hi! I should probably introduce myself to the group. My name is
Tara, and I have been lurking for a while. I have made some small
posts here and there, but have not formally introduced myself. I
have a three and a half yo boy named Jacob. I am staying at home
with him, and unschooling. This thread has really taken me back.
Jacob is also very spirited. I also didn't realize when he was
younger that other children were not like this. When he was that age
he was constantly into anything that he was around. He would pick
stuff up, look at them, see how they works, manipulate everyting and
climb everything. He was just constantly experimenting with anything
he could find. He would run down the isles at the grocery store, the
library, and anywhere else. I find that because he threw himself
into so much, so fast, he learned quite a lot about safety on his
own, through experience, very quickly. He has gotten to the point
now where he understands safety issues quite well, and that it is a
good idea to stay close to me out in public. With him, once he was
able to verbally ask about things, it moved from getting into to
everything, to CONSTANTLY asking about EVERYTHING. So although I
know it takes a lot of energy on your part, just relax and enjoy
this extremely curious being, knowing that you are doing what is
best for them just by allowing them to explore and to learn from the
world around them. It was definately a challenge then (and now) but
he has really brought out my curiousity about life again. It is
great, and I wouldn't have it any other way. - Tara



--- In [email protected], "Mark and Rheta
Wallingford" <wallingford@m...> wrote:
> Our 2yo is a whirlwind. If there is something she's not supposed
to do,
> she's doing it. At the library she's trying to climb the
bookshelves
> and run up and down the ramp. Distraction doesn't work, I end up
just
> trying to keep her from getting hurt the entire time we're
there. Our
> Homeschool group got a great deal at the local bowling lanes, we
can
> bowl for 2 hours at $6.50 per person - includes shoes. Vivien
doesn't
> like to bowl but Isabel loves it so I just signed her up and
brought
> stuff for Vivi, my 2yo, to do. At the end of the 2 hours Vivi had
been
> in every nook and cranny at the bowling alley, and when we went to
go I
> turned around and she had disappeared again. She was all the way
down
> the far lane that led to the door that goes behind the lanes! I
caught
> up with her just before she got through the door. I would like
some
> good advice to keep her out of trouble without always having to say
> "NO!"
>
> She loves our cats (3) but she hurts them. She'll walk up and
grab them
> by the throat and pick them up. She sits on them! My response to
this
> point has been "You are hurting her, honey . let her go." She's
been
> bit and scratched and still keeps going after them. I feel like I
say
> "no" or "not" a lot to this child . "not here" "not that".
Advice from
> those that have been there would be a big help. Do I just avoid
places
> for now? We take her to as many places as we can where she can
climb
> and jump, we have a mini trampoline that is in the living room for
her
> to jump on instead of the furniture (we've already been through one
> couch and love seat), the walls are colored here as well <g>.
>
>
> Rheta
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Shannon Rizzo

I say "Instead of (doing xxx), let's (xxxx - insert whatever I want to
redirect them to)" - so for this example I might say "Hey Luke, instead of
drawing on the wall let's go find some paper." Or if he rejects the paper I
counter with painting or other suggestions until we hit upon one he likes.
I like this because the "instead of" draws them to anticipate a suggestion
and they listen more readily.

Shannon R