Lately, I have found myself struggling with keeping my certain boundaries intact with Tycho. I find myself saying, "No, no, no!" in various forms all day, and some days I find myself tired and become casual or relaxed with some of these boundaries. Get stuff out of the cupboard? Sure... go ahead. Let me help you find something. Play with the toilet...well, if he isn't putting his hands inside of the toilet... just kidding.
So I ask myself two questions when it comes to Tycho playing with stuff. Is it dangerous/nasty? And on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does it bother me? If it's a 6 or higher, I tend to stop him.
For instance: toilet. Nasty. Bothersome --8. Remove troublesome child away from toilet before he attempts to flush it while I'm using it.
Dial that changes temperature on hot water heater. Taped in place. Dangerous. 10. (Why is it located in a place that kids can touch it easily??)
Pulling my books off of shelf. Not dangerous but a 9 on bothersome scale.
Pulling dishes out of cupboard. Annoyance level depends on how many dishes I have had to wash lately.
Okay maybe I go to far to ask silly questions, but do other moms get tired of saying no? What do you do? Redirect. Explain annoyance or danger?
Greg is much more rigid than I am. No touching the trash can, for instance, whereas I stop him once he sticks his hands in the trash can. I don't want to be off limits, per say, but I do want him to understand that garbage goes in the trash, not his hands. Because I believe he imitates what I am doing...sometimes. (hey he threw his own diaper away the other day...and then pulled it back out of the trash along with other trash...Progress, guys!)
Anyway, what works for you guys and how long does this get- into-everything-including-toilet-phase last for? Also, I know I shouldn't laugh or smile at Tycho as he walks away from his attempts at causing trouble, grinning--'cause he knows he's been caught--but he's so darn cute.
I'm in trouble.
I only make rules that I'm prepared to consistently enforce. Also, I talk with Eric about what is important to both of us. It can be hard if Mommy or Daddy isn't enforcing something the other really cares about. If it's something I care about but don't constantly want to be nagging my kids, I do what I can to remove the temptation. Pulling everything off the bookshelf? Put stuff up higher, put up baby gates/door locks. Pulling every toy off the shelf? Remove some of the toys so I'm only picking up 5 toys instead of 20.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard, but eventually your kids will outgrow it. I-Man was my kid that was INTO everything. I spent soooo much time picking up junk. Miss A has been my kid that CLIMBS everything and gets on top of everything. I'll be honest, I didn't like my kids at age 1. We got along much better when they turned 2.
You're doing great Momma! Just be consistent, this is a really hard phase, but T will grow up into a good kid. :)