Brenden and I had our first (of many to come, I am sure) War of the Wills this weekend. He's just tall enough to reach a knob on our stereo receiver. Instead of putting it higher to where he can't reach it, I decided to try to instill some discipline. I kept saying "no", moving him away, and trying to distract him, but he would inevitably walk/crawl right back and start fiddling again. It got to the point where I would stand in front of the receiver and then he would bitch at me while trying to push me out of the way.
Eventually, and I mean some times it took 5 minutes or longer, he would go find something else to do. But he would try again later on and the whole process would be repeated. Finally around 7 last night he did it again, and I said "you know what, Brenden? I don't care. Have fun."
He fiddled, looked at me, fiddled, looked at me, fiddled, then he lost interest and walked away. That whole sequence took less than 30 seconds. Sheesh, kid!
We are going outside in the back yard more. I am letting him go wherever he wants as he is showing less inclination at shoving strange things in his mouth. Matter of fact the only thing I removed from his mouth this time was a rock. After playing in the grass for a while he decided to investigate the pool. I had a grip on the back of his shirt - I figured if he lost his balance I could keep him from falling in.
What I was not prepared for was his attempt to do a gainer right into the pool. He got halfway in before I got my other arm under him and pulled him out. He was too shocked to cry, plus he was busy coughing up that water he tried to breathe. He cried some but no hysterics. I got him dried off and changed with little fuss. On one hand it was pretty funny - you should have seen that look on his face! I think he thinks it's one big bathtub.
On the other hand, if he ever gets outside without me knowing it, he will most likely head straight for the pool and fall in. That's a sobering thought. I'm going to buy a door alarm plus some better latches for the screen door. Damn, I better lo-jack Brenden while I'm at it.
A Word From the Boss
7 years ago
1 comment:
How early can you teach a child to swim?? I can just imagine that was a scary moment. To say the least. And lemme tell you, the day Anthony got tall enough to turn doorknobs, that was a bad day in my house. A door alarm sounds like a really good idea.
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