Does anyone have any advice for me about young boys? My little guy is almost 2 and is turning into a boy!! I need help! What do I do with him? I am always feeling like I don't do enough and I'm running out of ideas for things to do during the day. Most of the time he plays with his cars and balls, and I try to get him outside once or twice a day where he can run around in the yard. He loves books, so we read stories everyday too. I guess I'm just unsure of myself as a mom...I just feel like there is more I should do, or be providing him with more activities. I'm just starting to see more differences in him recently and seeing he is full of energy and loves to run and wrestle where I would love him to sit and color I realize that is not going to happen! At least not now. It's a good thing he has a wonderful papa who plays with him when he comes home from work. I'm seeing first hand how just how important a dad is in a little boy's life.I am also wondering if anyone has any good recommendations for books about boys, besides Dobson's book. I've read it and some of it was good, but I'm looking for more of what boys at his age are going through, developmentally. Any advice would be welcome too! Thanks
2 comments:
Oh, BOY do I know what you mean!!! When Sarah was little, I was very firm about the "no toys of war" rule (no guns, knives, bows and arrows, etc.). No problem! Then came Caleb. I remember him at age 2, biting his pb & j sandwich into the shape of a gun and "shooting" Sarah across the table. Sigh. There are some things which are just inherent in boys and, while I hate the expression, "Boys will be boys!" By the time Andrew came along, I had given up on the no guns rule and had modified it to no shooting anything you wouldn't be prepared to eat.
Hmmm. Books about boys. Well, I don't know of many. One that really helped me to deal with schooling Caleb was "Better Late than Early" by Raymond Moore. If I remember correctly, he spoke a lot about the difference between boys and girls educationally, as well as helps for teaching boys. Have you read "Wild at Heart"? It helped me understand all 5 boys in my house a little better!
A lot of what you'll find in books are generalizations. While they are often true, you can't say "all boys are like this, while girls are like this". Boys tend to be more active learners and more "hands on", so you've got the right idea with time outside, etc. They also need the discipline of sitting and listening, so you're also right on with the sitting and reading idea. As they get older, you might find that they listen better while quietly playing Leggos while you read. Maybe. :^)
Don't get sucked into believing the lie that you need to entertain them constantly. I don't believe that 2 year olds can be "bored". That's a concept that they learn (more of an "I'm not being entertained" idea). What I've done is kept some things "handy" so that they have access as they explore. In the kitchen I had one drawer that contained some stacking plastic bowls and spoons, so that while I worked the toddlers could be close by, but self-sufficiently playing. BUT, #1 my kitchen was big enough so that there was no danger of them being under foot by the stove and #2 they were trained from the beginning that when mommy said, "OK, time to put things away", they did. I had a set of really big plastic blocks. In fact, we made some out of old half gallon milk cartons (open both ends up square and stick them together to make a block. You can get fancy and cover them with contact paper or not. I never got around to it!). Those stayed stacked in the corner of the living room. Same rule as the plastic wares in the kitchen. Things that stack, nest, click together/apart, make noise (!) are all good for ones and twos.
Caleb never did get into coloring. All the other kids loved crayons to some extent, but Caleb to this day prefers to use crayons as ammunition or maybe to melt them into some other creation. A lot like his daddy, that one! Don't buy "kid-safe" scissors. They don't work, and they teach little ones that it's ok to pretend-cut things you wouldn't want cut (like your bedspread or the table cloth) because they aren't "real". But what do the real scissors look like? Just like the pretend ones. Sigh.
I must be starving for adult communication! I've written a novella!
Blessings to you, Candice! I wish we could see you when we're in the states in August. Keep posting the pictures; they make me smile and you seem so much closer!!!
-- Rebecca
Thank you so much Rebecca for your lovely novel that made me laugh and smile big! Great ideas and advice, boy do I miss you too! I wish that we could see you guys too. I will email soon! Love to you!
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