Driving Daddy Nuts
First, I once again need to apologize for the lack of posts. I think I'm just going to have to accept the fact that this is going to be (at best) a once or twice a week blog and just get on with my life. Oh well.
This time, the problem was two-fold (apart from the obvious time-drain involved in being a first-time, stay at home dad). First, was the war in the Middle East. As a Jew, the Israeli conflict was of particular interest and concern for me. I briefly considered writing a piece regarding my rather strong opinions on the matter, but finally decided that despite its importance to me, it would constitute a diversion from the topic of the blog. (I'm still not at all sure that I made the right decision, but two weeks into the conflict it feels a bit late now). In addition, I had yet another medical problem (definitely not a good month for me, health-wise), which put me completely out of commission from Saturday the the 22nd thru Wednesday, the 26th. I'm still not close to being 100%, but my wife couldn't take off any more time from work to take care of Ethan for me and I just had to tough it out yesterday and today.
Anyway, on to Ethan. He's doing many of the typical one-year-old stuff (at least I hope they're typical), along with those 13-month-old things that are pretty much unique to any one baby. In the "more typical" department, he's begun waggling his fingers up and down over his mouth while babbling. You know...going "Bbbbb, bbb, bbbb" while physically moving his fingers up and down on his lips to enhance the effect. (I hope that was clear as I can't describe it any better than that). I bring it up mainly because it's simply a riot to watch (we apparently have Nana to thank for that one). The other, apparently fairly common, activity is that he'll reach up with both hands and tug on his hair (he tugs pretty hard, too). Just to be clear, the commonness of this activity is based on one of our parenting books, and I make no claims as to it's accuracy. So don't blame me if your son does this simply because he's weird. According to this book, a child may do this as a comforting activity. I'm still not at all clear why this activity might be comforting, but it's apparently somewhat akin to tugging on one's "blankie" or playing with the fabric tag on a toy, etc. Frankly, I still don't get it.
Next, is the category of things he does that are simply interesting. The first activity is charactized by Ethan putting both of his hands up next to his cheeks and then rapidly, but lightly, patting himself on the cheeks over and over again. Not surprisingly, if Mommy or Daddy mimics this, it's the best thing since sliced bread (at least until his new trick next week). At the moment, we're trying to figure out how to capture this as a still photograph because it would end up looking very much like Edvard Munch's "The Scream." He has also begun rolling his eyes. I wouldn't have minded this so much, (I'm usually happy to see any new activity or word), except that I didn't expect to be seeing this particular motion until he was at least twelve.
Finally, we come to the list of those activities which are probably best described as "idiosyncratic" (this is the "best" term as it's one of the few choices that won't result in my wife hitting me). I.e., those activities that "drive Daddy nuts." What I've basically learned is that Ethan's going to copy everything I do. Now, don't get me wrong, I knew he was going to say words that I said and do the things that I do. I simply never realized that it was going to be every single motion that I ever made.
One day last week, we were on the floor of the dining room playing with one of his toys. All of a sudden, he began taking these deep breaths like he was gasping for air. At this point, everything I learned in that CPR and choking course my wife and I took last year promptly raced through my head and then proceeded to drain out of my ears onto the floor leaving me with absolutely no idea what to do. Luckily, I realized after a couple of seconds that, although he was clearly gasping, he didn't seem to be choking or not getting enough air in any way. After a few more seconds, I realized that it seemed to be voluntary for some reason. He stopped, it didn't start again, and I simply filed it away under "things to ask my wife about when she gets home." I then went back to what we were doing, and I picked up where we had left off. I had just noticed that one of the cats was sleeping on a chair under the dining room table (usually a potential source of great excitement) and had proceeded to say "Ahhhh. Ethan! Look! A cat!" On the "Ahhh," I had taken a rather deep intake of breath in an exaggerated expression of surprise. Ethan had of course noticed and, rather than saying "cat," or looking, or anything else I was hoping for, had decided to emulate the gasp. He now goes around making these gasps (typically in rapid succession); sometimes for attention, and sometimes just for fun. I had to make absolutely sure that I warned my wife before she got home and called 911.
Finally, for some time now, I've been attempting to teach Ethan the word "No." (Before you all start laughing at me, I didn't expect him to actually do it, just learn it). I was basically working on the theory (now pretty much accepted) that children know the meanings of words long before they can say them and use them appropriately. I suppose I was thinking that given Ethan's basic personality, I needed to get a running start. (Of course I've now learned, at least according to an article in Parenting Magazine -- an often useful publication despite it's mind-numbingly rabid anti-Daddy bias -- that children under the age of approximately 18 to 24 months are simply incapable of controlling their impulses appropriately and, thus, even once they've learned the word "No" it may be quite a while before they actually listen to you). In any event, I was trying to teach him the word. Apparently, and completely subconsciously, I was often shaking my head from side-to-side in a "no" motion whenever I said "No" to him. I learned this when he began shaking his own head in a "No" motion (which is not, of course, followed by him doing anything even remotely resembling not doing whatever I told him "No" about). This movement is often a bit jerky, only adding to it's amusement value; he rapidly learned to exploit this of course. He quickly began doing it whenever he wanted attention, waiting for us to do it back. He then began adding a long, drawn-out "ooooo" sound whenever he made the motion. I obviously became attuned to this problem rather quickly, and now make it a point to never, ever shake my head while saying "No." Now, in a final and comprehensive mockery of what I had orginally attempted, he has begun shaking his head "No" in that side-to-side motion (even when I'm positive that I'm not doing it) whenever I tell him "No."
And he has an ear-to-ear grin the entire time. Permalink
This time, the problem was two-fold (apart from the obvious time-drain involved in being a first-time, stay at home dad). First, was the war in the Middle East. As a Jew, the Israeli conflict was of particular interest and concern for me. I briefly considered writing a piece regarding my rather strong opinions on the matter, but finally decided that despite its importance to me, it would constitute a diversion from the topic of the blog. (I'm still not at all sure that I made the right decision, but two weeks into the conflict it feels a bit late now). In addition, I had yet another medical problem (definitely not a good month for me, health-wise), which put me completely out of commission from Saturday the the 22nd thru Wednesday, the 26th. I'm still not close to being 100%, but my wife couldn't take off any more time from work to take care of Ethan for me and I just had to tough it out yesterday and today.
Anyway, on to Ethan. He's doing many of the typical one-year-old stuff (at least I hope they're typical), along with those 13-month-old things that are pretty much unique to any one baby. In the "more typical" department, he's begun waggling his fingers up and down over his mouth while babbling. You know...going "Bbbbb, bbb, bbbb" while physically moving his fingers up and down on his lips to enhance the effect. (I hope that was clear as I can't describe it any better than that). I bring it up mainly because it's simply a riot to watch (we apparently have Nana to thank for that one). The other, apparently fairly common, activity is that he'll reach up with both hands and tug on his hair (he tugs pretty hard, too). Just to be clear, the commonness of this activity is based on one of our parenting books, and I make no claims as to it's accuracy. So don't blame me if your son does this simply because he's weird. According to this book, a child may do this as a comforting activity. I'm still not at all clear why this activity might be comforting, but it's apparently somewhat akin to tugging on one's "blankie" or playing with the fabric tag on a toy, etc. Frankly, I still don't get it.
Next, is the category of things he does that are simply interesting. The first activity is charactized by Ethan putting both of his hands up next to his cheeks and then rapidly, but lightly, patting himself on the cheeks over and over again. Not surprisingly, if Mommy or Daddy mimics this, it's the best thing since sliced bread (at least until his new trick next week). At the moment, we're trying to figure out how to capture this as a still photograph because it would end up looking very much like Edvard Munch's "The Scream." He has also begun rolling his eyes. I wouldn't have minded this so much, (I'm usually happy to see any new activity or word), except that I didn't expect to be seeing this particular motion until he was at least twelve.
Finally, we come to the list of those activities which are probably best described as "idiosyncratic" (this is the "best" term as it's one of the few choices that won't result in my wife hitting me). I.e., those activities that "drive Daddy nuts." What I've basically learned is that Ethan's going to copy everything I do. Now, don't get me wrong, I knew he was going to say words that I said and do the things that I do. I simply never realized that it was going to be every single motion that I ever made.
One day last week, we were on the floor of the dining room playing with one of his toys. All of a sudden, he began taking these deep breaths like he was gasping for air. At this point, everything I learned in that CPR and choking course my wife and I took last year promptly raced through my head and then proceeded to drain out of my ears onto the floor leaving me with absolutely no idea what to do. Luckily, I realized after a couple of seconds that, although he was clearly gasping, he didn't seem to be choking or not getting enough air in any way. After a few more seconds, I realized that it seemed to be voluntary for some reason. He stopped, it didn't start again, and I simply filed it away under "things to ask my wife about when she gets home." I then went back to what we were doing, and I picked up where we had left off. I had just noticed that one of the cats was sleeping on a chair under the dining room table (usually a potential source of great excitement) and had proceeded to say "Ahhhh. Ethan! Look! A cat!" On the "Ahhh," I had taken a rather deep intake of breath in an exaggerated expression of surprise. Ethan had of course noticed and, rather than saying "cat," or looking, or anything else I was hoping for, had decided to emulate the gasp. He now goes around making these gasps (typically in rapid succession); sometimes for attention, and sometimes just for fun. I had to make absolutely sure that I warned my wife before she got home and called 911.
Finally, for some time now, I've been attempting to teach Ethan the word "No." (Before you all start laughing at me, I didn't expect him to actually do it, just learn it). I was basically working on the theory (now pretty much accepted) that children know the meanings of words long before they can say them and use them appropriately. I suppose I was thinking that given Ethan's basic personality, I needed to get a running start. (Of course I've now learned, at least according to an article in Parenting Magazine -- an often useful publication despite it's mind-numbingly rabid anti-Daddy bias -- that children under the age of approximately 18 to 24 months are simply incapable of controlling their impulses appropriately and, thus, even once they've learned the word "No" it may be quite a while before they actually listen to you). In any event, I was trying to teach him the word. Apparently, and completely subconsciously, I was often shaking my head from side-to-side in a "no" motion whenever I said "No" to him. I learned this when he began shaking his own head in a "No" motion (which is not, of course, followed by him doing anything even remotely resembling not doing whatever I told him "No" about). This movement is often a bit jerky, only adding to it's amusement value; he rapidly learned to exploit this of course. He quickly began doing it whenever he wanted attention, waiting for us to do it back. He then began adding a long, drawn-out "ooooo" sound whenever he made the motion. I obviously became attuned to this problem rather quickly, and now make it a point to never, ever shake my head while saying "No." Now, in a final and comprehensive mockery of what I had orginally attempted, he has begun shaking his head "No" in that side-to-side motion (even when I'm positive that I'm not doing it) whenever I tell him "No."
And he has an ear-to-ear grin the entire time. Permalink
posted by Rob | 9:46 PM
2 Comments:
My 1-year old loves to drench himself with milk. After each feeding (he is bottle-fed), he takes what’s left and drips them into his hair.
I say, “No.” He smiles.
I remain firm and say, “No!” He giggles.
My 3-year old joins in and shouts, “NO!” My 1-year old laughs. He thinks it is funny—and so does my 3-year old.
Now, both of them are laughing their hearts out.
I call my wife in the office. She works. I stay at home.
“Mommy,” I tell her. “I think both of our kids are nuts.”
http://somethingaboutparenting.blogspot.com/
Mike says:
“Mommy,” I tell her. “I think both of our kids are nuts.”
Nah.
It's definitely you and I that are nuts. Now, whether or not our kids are making us that way is a different story.....
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home