So, do you kid-proof your house, or house train your child???
Kate loves to play in my baking drawer just underneath the oven ~ a very good thing. Yesterday she was carelessly banging my favorite glass loaf pans together ~ very bad thing. Instead of rearranging my whole kitchen and removing the glass loaf pans, I sat down on the floor with her and began baking drawer lesson 101. I pointed to the glass loaf pans and calmly said, "No, no." As expected, her chubby little hand almost instantly reached for the glass pans. I flicked her knuckles with my finger and gently repeated, "No, no". Then I showed her she could play with all the other drawer contents, just not the glass loaf pans. This exact scenario repeated itself several times. Finally, she made a choice to reach for something else. A decision that I highly praised with lots of smiles and accolades. She played contentedly there for some time.
Today she again opened up the drawer. I saw her curious hand start toward the glass pans. Halfway there she started waving that hand in the air and redirected it elsewhere in the drawer. She looked at me to see if I had noticed. Of course I had. Many more praises, smiles and accolades came her way. She's a happy member of the house.
We've found removing all "off limits" objects is a disservice to a child's world. Taking a minute to establish a boundary helps them to feel secure, and lays a lifelong foundation in obedience and self control. (Of course we remove the dangerous and harmful stuff!) And, oh, how rewarding it is for your child to walk in obedience, even at 9 months! (They're happier, too!)
8 comments:
I figure it is teaching what is off limits OR teaching her to bake!! hee hee!!
She is so adorable!
Yea for a victory won! I agree, if you remove all temptation, that doesn't mimick real life. That picture is adorable!
We've house trained our kids as well! They know when we go anywhere what's off limits and what is acceptable! You can definitely tell the difference for kids who have never been around temptations!
What a great post!! That is awesome how she remembered and 'waived her hand in the air and then went elsewhere in the drawer'. Don't you know God loves it when we 'go elsewhere in the drawer' at His beckoning.
What a great moral lesson that I needed to hear today. Also, the picture of Kate is precious!! She is beautiful!
We do the same thing! We also move the dangerous stuff (no bug spray under the sink!)- but I haven't moved any of our decorations, framed phots, etc. Our girls learned that some things are "just pretty", and can be admired without the use of their hands! We also used the "just pretty" line on jewlery- saved me several pulled earlobes and broken necklaces!
CourtneyS
I guess I never really thought of that before, but I totally agree with this technique and will definitely be doing this with our daughter! How awesome that Kate learned so quickly, and what an amazing lesson in self-control and obedience from such an early age. Your Kate is so stinkin' cute, too!!!!!
Wow! Keep the tips coming! For us (hopefully) soon-to-be moms, these are great tidbits.
Love that great big smile!!
YvonneW
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