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When dealing with a toddler, we’ve all had times when it just seems they can’t stay out of anything. They’re curious of course, but there are times when we just want them to find something harmless to play with, if only to give us just a few minutes of peace. Recently though, I’ve stumbled upon a way to lessen the madness of chasing a toddler around all day. By sacrificing the few precious moments of peace, I’ve gained the pleasure of watching my 17-month-old begin his learning odyssey.
Just a few days ago I sat
working at the computer hoping my son was watching his early morning cartoons.
He wasn’t.
Instead he found his way
into my computer room where I also happen to keep my electric guitar and
effects equipment. Of course his little hands on that stuff are usually a big
no-no, but this time he merely stumbled upon an unplugged guitar cord and a
small piece of unplugged effects equipment.
I whirled around to let him
know that he was once again not allowed to touch these things when I noticed
something.
He was trying to plug the
cord into a jack.
At first I thought this was
just cute, but as I watched him he kept trying and trying. So I decided to give
him a hand. For the next few minutes he watched as I showed him how the silver
thing went into the hole. He kept trying until he finally did it on his own. He
was quite pleased with himself. And so was I.
A few days later we went
through the same thing again, only this time with a pen that was setting on my
nightstand. I grabbed a nearby piece of paper and showed him how to draw
circles. These examples may not be as scientifically formulated for learning as
some of the countless toys we buy him, but they seem to work just the same.
Granted, as a stay-at-home
dad, my days are still filled with trying to keep him out of everything,
including things that may hurt him and things that would just be a pain to
clean up.
I felt good about letting my
son take a few minutes to develop a sense of how things work; it also felt good
to lessen the frustration of constantly keeping an eye on him. In the end it
was worth letting go of a few minutes of peace.
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