Thing 2 is lucky to have a big brother who is, at least to him, THE authority on everything. Any questions about any topic and Thing 1 will have an answer. At least half the time his information is correct.
In this case he was so right, proving kids pick up way more than we think.
Thing 2: What’s a playdate?
Thing 1: It’s when you play with a friend at their house or at your house. And the mommies drink wine.
And not to be outdone say hello to Super Thing!
Spider Bat came back to help protect us from bad guys. And this time he was joined by his partner Super Spider.
Toddlers are troublemakers curious by nature.?? They touch, push, pull, prod, and climb anything and everything in their path.? It’s how they learn about their world.
It’s also how trouble happens.? I’ve posted before about Thing 3’s curiosity, which even for a toddler, is extraordinarily high.? For a while he was very curious about the water in the toilets and only wanted to put his hands in it.
Having just moved to the two year olds room at daycare, his new teachers are just learning of the new level of curiosity that Thing 3 brings.? And these are teachers who spend all day with two year olds so I would think they’ve seen it all before.
One of Thing 3’s passions is running.? Fast.? Into the unknown.? Because he’s curious, I guess.? We try to give him an outlet for his running.? The mall is a great place for this.? Point him in a direction, put him down and he’s OFF.? Like a wind up race car.? Into the Banana Republic and behind a rack of clothes.? Oh yeah, once he finds a new place, he likes to hide from me.? I”ve lost him more than once in the aisles at Target or Michaels because he ran off to hide.
On day one of being in his new classroom, the teacher told me? Wow, he is fast.? I opened up the door to the class and he was halfway down the hall before I could get out the door.? Yeah, he’s like a puppy that can’t be let off the leash even indoors.
Then today I get a strange instant message from the teacher.? She wanted to know if Thing 3 has ever pulled or tried to pull a fire alarm.? Apparently he’s been working for days to stack objects in the classroom so he can climb them and pull the alarm.
Fortunately, it’s a first.? But given his curiosity level it’s very believable.? I just hope this is a phase and not an indicator of trouble to come.
Ah, back to school time. Since we just started with the school routine as Thing 1 began kindergarten, I can see it’s an annual ritual that kids probably dread but parents probably welcome it. Except, that is, for the costs involved each year for new clothes and supplies.
So I’m letting everyone know about a sweepstakes I just entered from Nestle Family for a $5000 giveaway. You can enter each day to win a messenger bag filled with school supplies. The grand prize will be selected at the end of the month and also includes a $2000 Literacy Grant for your child’s school.
You hear a lot about the terrible two’s. We are no doubt smack in the middle of this stage with Thing 3. But that is not what I’m writing about today.
Thing 3 is also a two year old terror. Who does he terrorize? His older brothers. Usually you hear about the older ones picking on the youngest. Not here.
Part of the terror comes from the normal toddler behavior of getting into his brothers stuff. They know a game of checkers, or playing a computer game is subject to instant termination when Thing 3 is around.
Then there is the physical intimidation. Yes, by a two year old. To him, about the funniest thing you can do is bop someone on the head and say “ow”. All fun and games with a pillow or stuffed animal. Not quite so funny when it’s a flashlight, fork, or other hard object.
He also likes to run full steam and dive on you. It’s fun when you see him coming. It hurts when you don’t. Either way he comes up laughing.
On so many occasions when the three of them are horsing around, it’s usually one of the older ones who come up crying at the hands of Thing 3.
They both flinch when Thing 3 makes a move in their direction. As a result, Thing 1 and Thing 2 have the reflexes and awareness of a secret service agent.
One night, Thing 2 woke up crying during the night. He was having a nightmare. I walked him back to his bed and asked what scared him. He said he dreamed that Thing 3 was chasing him with his flashlight.