I don't know what's gotten into our son.
Usually, he's a pretty well behaved (but active) four year-old. He's thoughtful, funny and imaginative. But for the past two days something has possessed him to pull some of the dumbest stunts imaginable. My son has always been a bit of a daredevil, which is really fun when you go to places like Sea World or Six Flags and he wants to ride the roller coasters with you. Not so good when you're inside the house.
Yesterday he was in the living room watching a movie while I was cooking dinner in the kitchen. Hubby went to the living room to check on him, and I heard him shout "DAVID!!! NO!" I ran to the living room and saw him pulling our son off the window he WAS HANGING OUT OF. Now, since we are on the third story of a building, it would be quite a fall had he tipped out; I can only imagine what sort of horrible things could've happened to him if he fell. I couldn't believe he had unlocked the window and started to climb out. Apparently he had been talking to the kids outside, but going out on the balcony to talk to them would have been too safe. No, he had to hang out the window.
Now here's the clincher -- he proceeded to do this TWO MORE TIMES until bedtime, both in his room. I felt like strangling him by bedtime.
Then, this morning, while I was in the shower (with Culacha asleep in our bedroom), he started pounding on the door and talking to me, but I couldn't understand him. I told him to go to his room and wait until I was finished, and then I would help him with what he needed. Two minutes later, I hear a terrible CRASH!! Oh, dear God, what happened now???
Once I found the source of the noise (the kitchen), my jaw dropped. The WHOLE panel of the refrigerator door (where you store things like milk and eggs and jars) had fallen to the floor, including the eggs (which had smashed), a jar of caramel (shattered), and a couple boxes of juice (which spilled on the floor but didn't break, since they were cardboard). I lost my temper (which I hate). I can think of about 3 or 4 times that I've actually yelled at my son -- this makes number five I suppose. My throat is actually sore from the strain. It's like he's been sitting in his room, devising ways to infuriate me (or kill himself?), for the past two days. I love having my kids at home (most of the time), but today, I feel like I've had enough.
Not really sure what's driving him to act like this. Lack of playmates? Jealousy? Boredom? I've ruled out jealousy because both my husband and I are intentional about giving him playtime w/o his sister; if anything, I've started spending LESS time w/ my daughter since I've started weaning her.
Solutions, anyone??? I'm at a loss here.
6 comments:
man, i can sure relate to the exasperation. my kids haven't tried to jump out windows, but i can feel your pain. :) sometimes you just want to pull your hair out!
hang him up by his toe nails? just kidding!
i sympathize with you!
i'll pray for wisdom for you and duane :).
Thanks for the sympathy, guys! It was just one of those times where you wonder what in the world your child is doing with the brains God gave him.
I've been reading "Dare to Discipline" by Dr. Dobson recently. It's given me some good ideas, and I'm anxious to try them out. After reading this book BTW, I can totally see that my parents raised me on it :0)
Awww, sweet Whoopiechoo testing boundaries. He's so inquisitive and so intelligent! Can you buy bar locks or eye and hook locks that you can place higher where he can't reach them? I'm assuming you don't have central air, what about using thumb screws to only allow the window to open a certain amount? Thumb screws are used to keep easy access windows from being opened from the outside. If you don't know what I'm talking about, email me, and I'll take a picture of ours. Hopefully that will help the safety issue. Discipline wise, I only have teacher tricks, and alot of those have to do with knowing there will be consequences for actions.
Erector set pieces are too small for he and culacha, but maybe there is a safer toy with the same movable parts that can be interacted with. Do we have the makings of an engieneer?
Having two boys ourselves lead us to completely understand your frustration.....I am convinced it is a true miralce that little boys live past the age of six as they spend so much time trying to kill themselves...ours spent most of age 3-6 in the ER...when I would call into the ER to let them know I was bringing in one of my sons, they already asked which one by name...every shift of the ER knew each of them. Fortunatley God made little boys flexable and rapid healers.
Barb, I bet you have some crazy stories about the boys! And I remember my brothers doing some particularly crazy things too, usually involving jumping from roofs or the like. They're still alive, thank God :)
Miriam, I'll try out your suggestions. We do have central A/C but the weather has been so pleasant in the evening and morning that it's shame to close everything up. He might be ready for an Erector set though. I think a future as an engineer is definitely a possibility!
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