This is my article for August. I tried to upload more pictures, but something isn't working right, sorry.
<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Is there really a kid out there that follows “the book?” You know, rolls over at 3 months, sits up at 6 months, crawls at 9 months, and walks at a year? No? Good, because my daughter doesn’t do anything by the book. She didn’t crawl until after she was one and didn’t walk until a month before her second birthday, but she has been babbling since birth. It is a good thing most kids don’t follow “the book” or I would think she was weirder than someone standing in a hailstorm covering their garden with cardboard.
We spent this last week in the Midwest visiting family when she defied the laws of “the book” again. All the potty training books say not to potty train if you are moving, expecting another child, or planning a big trip. Well, we brought the potty chair with us in hopes of not loosing any ground and with NO intention of actually gaining ground. Sure enough on the second day of our trip, while we were driving on the highway half way between two of our stops, and just past an exit, we heard “I have to go potty.” So, we pulled over, took the potty out of the topper and there she sat with the only privacy as the side of the truck and Daddy blocking the view of on coming traffic. Well, our one success a day was out of the way, right? Wrong! She stayed dry most of the two days we stayed at her great aunt and uncle’s house. I was sure it was a fluke; maybe she just really liked their Noah’s Ark themed bathroom.
We left Wisconsin and headed for Cedar Rapids. This is when we decided the potty chair had to go everywhere with us. She was really getting it! We had lunch in an Amish community one day where we spent most of lunch taking turns with Katie in the bathroom. On the twelve-hour drive home we had to pull over about every hour. This turned our twelve-hour drive into a fifteen-hour drive. We thought we had this potty training thing down, but the first day we were home she had no successes all day. I guess it is more fun to use the potty 1000 miles from home.
My son, 18-month-old TJ, is no stranger to being weird. We are cat sitting this week for his godmother. During my errand running this morning we stopped in to check on Gabby, the cat, and water the plants. I was coming in from watering the plants on the deck to find TJ walking around with Gabby’s water bowl. Did I mention it was empty? He poured the water into her food dish. This is new for him; he usually puts the food into the water dish. I refilled everything and was cleaning up the floor and TJ decided to help. He was putting the food that had fallen out on the floor . . . and was putting it in her water bowl. Gee, thanks big helper.
I don’t think he is alone in this strange behavior of putting cat or dog food into the water bowl. I have seen other kids partake in this activity as well, but you never see this in any of the books. Why is this? It seems to me this behavior is common enough and yet so unexpected we should be forewarned.
On top of the food and water phenomenon, he also has short-term stranger anxiety. During our week long tour of the Midwest, we made three stops to see three different sets of Great Grandparents. Every time he would wait until the day we were leaving to warm up to his great grandparents and let them hold him. It was almost more of a teaser. Who is this kid they write all the books about? A book about my kids would read more like a mystery novel than an advice book. I guess all kids do something that is a little weird. That is just part of what makes them special. My kids are very special.
Is there really a kid out there that follows “the book?” You know, rolls over at 3 months, sits up at 6 months, crawls at 9 months, and walks at a year? No? Good, because my daughter doesn’t do anything by the book. She didn’t crawl until after she was one and didn’t walk until a month before her second birthday, but she has been babbling since birth. It is a good thing most kids don’t follow “the book” or I would think she was weirder than someone standing in a hailstorm covering their garden with cardboard.
We spent this last week in the Midwest visiting family when she defied the laws of “the book” again. All the potty training books say not to potty train if you are moving, expecting another child, or planning a big trip. Well, we brought the potty chair with us in hopes of not loosing any ground and with NO intention of actually gaining ground. Sure enough on the second day of our trip, while we were driving on the highway half way between two of our stops, and just past an exit, we heard “I have to go potty.” So, we pulled over, took the potty out of the topper and there she sat with the only privacy as the side of the truck and Daddy blocking the view of on coming traffic. Well, our one success a day was out of the way, right? Wrong! She stayed dry most of the two days we stayed at her great aunt and uncle’s house. I was sure it was a fluke; maybe she just really liked their Noah’s Ark themed bathroom.
We left Wisconsin and headed for Cedar Rapids. This is when we decided the potty chair had to go everywhere with us. She was really getting it! We had lunch in an Amish community one day where we spent most of lunch taking turns with Katie in the bathroom. On the twelve-hour drive home we had to pull over about every hour. This turned our twelve-hour drive into a fifteen-hour drive. We thought we had this potty training thing down, but the first day we were home she had no successes all day. I guess it is more fun to use the potty 1000 miles from home.
My son, 18-month-old TJ, is no stranger to being weird. We are cat sitting this week for his godmother. During my errand running this morning we stopped in to check on Gabby, the cat, and water the plants. I was coming in from watering the plants on the deck to find TJ walking around with Gabby’s water bowl. Did I mention it was empty? He poured the water into her food dish. This is new for him; he usually puts the food into the water dish. I refilled everything and was cleaning up the floor and TJ decided to help. He was putting the food that had fallen out on the floor . . . and was putting it in her water bowl. Gee, thanks big helper.
I don’t think he is alone in this strange behavior of putting cat or dog food into the water bowl. I have seen other kids partake in this activity as well, but you never see this in any of the books. Why is this? It seems to me this behavior is common enough and yet so unexpected we should be forewarned.
On top of the food and water phenomenon, he also has short-term stranger anxiety. During our week long tour of the Midwest, we made three stops to see three different sets of Great Grandparents. Every time he would wait until the day we were leaving to warm up to his great grandparents and let them hold him. It was almost more of a teaser. Who is this kid they write all the books about? A book about my kids would read more like a mystery novel than an advice book. I guess all kids do something that is a little weird. That is just part of what makes them special. My kids are very special.
No comments:
Post a Comment