Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group
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I am going to reiterate that I do not have a little girl but instead a blue-eyed Tasmanian Devil.
There is a barrier made with baby gates separating my kitchen and living room and up until recently, that has been sufficient to keep Ellorie entertained.
She has lately decided that after she eats breakfast or any other meal that she wants to go down in the kitchen and play....which is fine. The kitchen is pretty much childproofed, it's just that in order to clean up the food fest in which she has partaken, it's usually best to have her play in the living room, out from underfoot.
In approximately three minutes she took out all of the pots and pans form the bottom cupboard, dumped an entire box of plastic spoons into the dogs water dish, grabbed a handful of cat food and ATE some (ARGH!), ran into my bedroom and grabbed the tissue box and succeeded in pulling out each and every single tissue out, ripped a handful of the cat's fur out, and dumped out the contents of my purse, landing my wallet into the dog's water dish with the spoons.
So in addition to cleaning up bananas, cottage cheese, pancakes, and cheerios, I ended up having to clean up after a hurricane.
Three minutes.
Imagine if I had given her more time?
Then she gets angry when I put her in the living room on the other side of the gate...
She needs a rubber room...
I take that back;
I need the rubber room.
Maybe I'll just settle for a nap.
There is a barrier made with baby gates separating my kitchen and living room and up until recently, that has been sufficient to keep Ellorie entertained.
She has lately decided that after she eats breakfast or any other meal that she wants to go down in the kitchen and play....which is fine. The kitchen is pretty much childproofed, it's just that in order to clean up the food fest in which she has partaken, it's usually best to have her play in the living room, out from underfoot.
In approximately three minutes she took out all of the pots and pans form the bottom cupboard, dumped an entire box of plastic spoons into the dogs water dish, grabbed a handful of cat food and ATE some (ARGH!), ran into my bedroom and grabbed the tissue box and succeeded in pulling out each and every single tissue out, ripped a handful of the cat's fur out, and dumped out the contents of my purse, landing my wallet into the dog's water dish with the spoons.
So in addition to cleaning up bananas, cottage cheese, pancakes, and cheerios, I ended up having to clean up after a hurricane.
Three minutes.
Imagine if I had given her more time?
Then she gets angry when I put her in the living room on the other side of the gate...
She needs a rubber room...
I take that back;
I need the rubber room.
Maybe I'll just settle for a nap.
suggestion. have her help you clean up the breakfast mess. make it a habit and you will be soooo glad you did! Yes, its easier to clean it yourself than to teach her to, but it will not only keep her from wreaking havoc while you are occupied, it will establish cleaning up after herself as a part of the routine. I wish I had done this with my daughter, who at 6.5 has to still be reminded to put her dish in the sink. My son, on the other hand, at 15 months was already trained in the routine! He once took a plate off my lap (while the sandwich was in my hand) and took off with it, and put it in the sink! He is constantly putting shoes away, wipes up his own spills, cleans up toys.... he even THINKS he helps with the laundry, but really its UN-HELPING, sigh. He's barely 21 months and this is just part of his day....
I'm glad that your phone didn't land in the water dish! That could be an expensive mishap!
I would not be pleased to see an entire box of cereal spread out through the house...though we do have two dogs that would be quite happy about it.
But they get horrific gas, so nobody would win then. We'd be sitting in a house cleaned with dog tongue and scented with the aroma of Cap'n Crunch + dog fart.
My first daughter was happy to sit and play.
Talk about a different experience.
Today, Ellorie has become keen on running into rooms and closing doors. It's only a matter of time before she locks herself in a room and tries to destroy it. I've attempted preempting her on that, as I've gone to Target today and gotten those doorknob stoppie things (good vocabulary, I have).
I shall prevail, I tell you!
I shall not be taken down by a wily 13 month-old!
Maybe she thinks that since you don't have that jogging stroller yet, that this is a good way for the 2 of you to get exercise!!
Try having a 4 & 2 yr old do pretty much the same thing, but in different rooms at the same time while the baby gets stuck under a chair....oh yeah, good times, good times