Category: Thing 3

Thing 3

Grocery Shopping With A Three Year Old

Thing 3 eats. A lot. You may recall his “Michelin Man” nickname as a baby.

But he is VERY particular about what he eats. So much, in fact, that he prefers to do his own grocery shopping. Lucky for us, the local supermarket caters to just his demographic: three year olds who watch a lot of movies.

With a pint sized shopping cart, Thing 3 makes his way through the aisles, until he finds all his favorites. First up, the mac and cheese section. The store is very smart to put the Toy Story themed boxes within his reach.

Unlike SuburbanDaddy, who zig-zags across the store looking for items on his list, Thing 3 knows his way around like a pro.

Of course, his favorite spot is the dairy aisle. With the amount of milk he drinks, it’s like the opening scene from Leaving Las Vegas when Nicholas Cage dances with a shopping cart down the aisle at the liquor store.

No trip to the store would be complete without a tantrum.? In this case, it happens when we need to take all the items out of his cart and pay for them.?? Here he is sitting on the floor and crying in protest.

Not to worry, they have free balloons on the way out.? Balloons are a sure fire tantrum stopper.? Just make sure not to let go of the balloon in the parking lot.? That would be the nuclear bomb of tantrums.? Trust me.

Don’t Fight

We have been working for a long time with Thing 3 to use his words instead of crying when he wants something. Or, more likely, when he doesn’t want something.

Rather than breaking into a tantrum because he wants Apple Jacks instead of Fruit Loops, or the green bowl instead of the blue, or because he only will wear white socks, we want him to just say what he wants. I’m more than happy to give him the green bowl.

So we encourage him to use his words. At preschool they do the same, teaching the kids to say “Don’t hit me” when their friends hit them, instead of hitting back.

He is making progress and often uses words instead of a tantrum. But sometimes he uses the wrong words for the situation and the results can be quite entertaining.

In one situation at school, he didn’t like what was for lunch so he said “No, don’t fight!”. The teachers were a little puzzled until we explained he says that when he doesn’t like something. He probably picked it up from me telling his brothers to stop fighting a hundred times a day.

Then, in another situation, he mentioned something about Mommy picking him up. When the teacher said Mommy wasn’t coming until the afternoon, he said “No, Don’t hit me!”

Now the teachers were a little concerned. When he talks about Mommy, he uses words about hitting and fighting? They asked if anything is going on at home.

This wasn’t the only time “Don’t hit me” may have concerned someone. When we are out, and Thing 3 is doing stuff he shouldn’t be, like knocking everything off the shelf at the supermarket, and we ask him to pick it up, his response is “Don’t hit me!”. You can see how someone passing by might get the wrong idea.

Still, words are better than tantrums. Even if they aren’t the right words.

What Do You Say To That?

Idle threats are usually enough to pursuade a three year old.

“Don’t throw your toy or it will break and we’ll have to throw it away. Is that what you want?”

“Nooo!”

Or when he doesn’t want to leave somewhere:

“OK. I’m leaving without you. Bye”. I usually start walking away for added effect, and after 10 seconds he gets upset and comes running.

It’s a strategy which generally works well, but now I think Thing 3 is onto me.

He insists on standing on his chair at the kitchen table. Literally, every 30 seconds I’m saying “Sit down” and he may or may not listen.

So I tried the idle threat strategy.

“Do you want to fall down and get a boo boo?”

It’s actually not idle, because he has actually fallen down on more than one occasion from standing on the chair, and got hurt. So I know he knows what I’m talking about.

His response: “Yes”

“You want to fall and get a boo boo?”

“Yes”

What do I possibly say to that?

Animals At The Zoo

I took the animals to the National Zoo today in DC. Urban Uncle went with us. Who knew it would be so crowded. Sure, it’s Memorial Day weekend but I thought everyone left town for the start of summer except for the thousands of bikers here for Rolling Thunder. And I didn’t think the Harley crowd was into pandas.

Thing 3 was more interested in the dirt on the ground than the animals.

Don’t Hit Me

Two year olds will say some pretty random stuff. Sometimes it makes no sense. Sometimes it’s from something you did weeks ago.

Thing 3 does what I call a running commentary about nothing. Whatever pops into his mind cones out in words.

“Wow! A rock. I don’t like that. I eat feet.”

The “I don’t like that” comes out often because it’s being taught at preschool as a way to use words to express himself instead of having a tantrum.

I generally don’t pay much attention to his constant stream of consciousness. But sometimes you need to play close attention to what’s being said because it can be a clue to something important going on. Like a bad home environment or physical abuse.

Which brings us to Thing 3’s latest phrase he’s learning by using in all the wrong places. At preschool the children are taught to use their words, “Don’t hit me”, when their preschool friends hit them, instead of hitting them back.

Now, whenever you touch him, he responds with don’t hit me. When I go to comb his hair – don’t hit me. Change his diaper – don’t hit me. Put on his shirt – don’t hit me.

First it was the unexplained scratches all over his body (he likes to walk in the bushes), then the bruises (he jumps off everything), and now he goes around saying don’t hit me when anyone comes near him. It’s only a matter of time before someone assumes the worst and calls child protective services on me.

What’s in Your Bed?

This is how Thing 3 sleeps. Every single item is essential and must be precisely in the right place.

There are the Buzz and Woody dolls. A book. Not just any book. It must be the Backyardigans Jungle Colors book that is falling apart in three places. And Legos. You don’t sleep with Legos? You are missing out. And finally, three of SuburbanDaddy’s shirts which are used in place of a pillow and blanket.