Climbing to a new level of panic
I can sympathize with the two mothers who posted on our Jersey Shore Moms Web site about having little climbers. (See "Any Moms with Climbers?" on our Get Connected page.)
For me, the climbing started about two months ago when Hendrick was 14 months old. I don't recall exactly what prompted me to take my eyes away from him for a few minutes but the next thing I knew he was standing in the middle of the dining room table, squealing with glee and pumping his little fists.
"Hendrick," I gasped. "How did you get up there?"
When did he learn to climb, I asked myself. At first I was impressed with his accomplishment, despite the obvious danger. So I gently snatch him off the table and told him not to do that again.
Did I really think he was going to listen???
For weeks, every time I turned my back he was scaling the dining room chairs to reach his summit. (It was as if my little James Cagney was saying, "Top of the world, Ma!" as he laughed defiantly in my face.)
I started to take a much more serious tone with my adventurous boy when I found half of his little body hanging off the corner of the table, his stocking feet dangling in the air. He had managed to climb on the table and scoot over a few inches, away from the chair, his safety net.
Every time he climbed that after, he got a stern warning. "No climb," I'd say with a frown and shake my head from side to side, just like my pediatrician instructed me to do. If he continued he would immediately be sent to the playpen, which I keep in my bedroom. Then I'd shut the door.
Oh, he'd wail and scream for a while, I'd let him out and he'd do it again. But I kept consistent, something my experienced mommy friends said I'd have to do if I was doing to break him from this dangerous behavior.
My friend Irene, who has two sons, says a mother's will power has to be stronger than her child's. That's hard to do most days, considering all the energy and determination and focus my boy has. But she's right. How else can I convince my son that I'm the one in charge around here?
Now, when Hendrick begins to climb on a chair I use my stern voice to remind him that a punishment awaits a rulebreaker. I guess he really doesn't like that playpen because he'll look at me for a moment, clutching the edge of the table, and then change course. "OK, I'll sit," he seems to say.
That's a compromise I can live with.
If anyone has any other advice, please comment. JERZMOM is listening... :)
For me, the climbing started about two months ago when Hendrick was 14 months old. I don't recall exactly what prompted me to take my eyes away from him for a few minutes but the next thing I knew he was standing in the middle of the dining room table, squealing with glee and pumping his little fists.
"Hendrick," I gasped. "How did you get up there?"
When did he learn to climb, I asked myself. At first I was impressed with his accomplishment, despite the obvious danger. So I gently snatch him off the table and told him not to do that again.
Did I really think he was going to listen???
For weeks, every time I turned my back he was scaling the dining room chairs to reach his summit. (It was as if my little James Cagney was saying, "Top of the world, Ma!" as he laughed defiantly in my face.)
I started to take a much more serious tone with my adventurous boy when I found half of his little body hanging off the corner of the table, his stocking feet dangling in the air. He had managed to climb on the table and scoot over a few inches, away from the chair, his safety net.
Every time he climbed that after, he got a stern warning. "No climb," I'd say with a frown and shake my head from side to side, just like my pediatrician instructed me to do. If he continued he would immediately be sent to the playpen, which I keep in my bedroom. Then I'd shut the door.
Oh, he'd wail and scream for a while, I'd let him out and he'd do it again. But I kept consistent, something my experienced mommy friends said I'd have to do if I was doing to break him from this dangerous behavior.
My friend Irene, who has two sons, says a mother's will power has to be stronger than her child's. That's hard to do most days, considering all the energy and determination and focus my boy has. But she's right. How else can I convince my son that I'm the one in charge around here?
Now, when Hendrick begins to climb on a chair I use my stern voice to remind him that a punishment awaits a rulebreaker. I guess he really doesn't like that playpen because he'll look at me for a moment, clutching the edge of the table, and then change course. "OK, I'll sit," he seems to say.
That's a compromise I can live with.
If anyone has any other advice, please comment. JERZMOM is listening... :)
Labels: climb
