Kenny loves to play “hide and seek.” He loves it so much that we play it for great lengths of time all day. Don’t get me wrong… I’m pretty impressed at the tenacity he exhibits when charming me into playing over and over again. But here’s the kicker: Kenny’s idea of “hiding” is to stand very still in one spot, usually right smack in the center of the living room, and wait for me to count to 10. Then, when I shout, “Here I come!” he will dart behind the couch or a chair, but only for a second or two, then actually start following me around as I “look” for him. It’s anybody’s guess as to when I actually “notice” him there, and when I say, “I found you!” he shreiks with pleasure and yells, “Again! Again!” It gets pretty mind-numbing after a while, but how can I deny my precious boy this obvious thrill?
Speaking of thrills, he still, after NINE months, begs me to play Rodney Atkins’ song, “These Are My People” at least five times a day. There are a couple of other tracks he likes, but listening to them certainly doesn’t lower the count of the first. It’s maddening. I love good old Rodney, don’t get me wrong – in fact, Casey and I are going to one of his concerts later this summer – but I’m dead tired of listening to this song. Yet Kenny is all smiles and giggles, waving his arms, occasionally singing along and generally exuberantly happy when it is playing. We even have two different versions of it, and he doesn’t seem to be partial as to which one is playing, just as long as it’s on, and it’s loud. To coin a phrase, … It gets pretty mind-numbing after a while, but how can I deny my precious boy this obvious thrill?
Since I got such a great response from my last general question, let me pose another: What do you do to keep your sanity when your toddler (or older kid) is bent on repeating something until your ears bleed? Or so stuck on a specific activity that it’s all you can do to keep from melting from the monotany? By the way, I’ll post the best story in this week’s “Mommy Story of the Week” for all to read. Let me hear from you!
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6 responses to “It’s All Relative”
Blaine does this to me the most in the car when I feel like a trapped participant. I try to distract him by pointing out other things or changing the music we’re listening to, etc. At home, I’ve found that circulating the toys is very helpful. We have a small (at least I try to keep it small…) stash downstairs in the living room and everything else is upstairs, mostly in his closet. Don’t know if this fits Kenny’s obsessions, but maybe it will help. I’m glad to see you writing more like yourself! Praise God!!
Laughter is what makes the situation palpable. It’s the only way I can listen to the CD of the Vacation Bible School music over and over and over and OVER everyday. Annalise will actually sing the songs in her sleep. When we check on her before we go to bed, I start singing the first line to one of the songs while she’s snoring away, and she always continues the song. I giggle every time, and I giggle the next day when we’re listening to the CD again.
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As I’m not a Mommy to two-legged kids yet, I can’t answer your question first hand as a Mom.
But when I was babysitting some years back for this little 4-year-old boy, he was absolutely OBSESSED with this one dinosaur book. I watched him every Saturday night that whole summer, and i had to read that same damn dinosaur book like 20 times per night.
He knew the lines by heart, so if I tried to skip a page (and it was a long book) he’d totally call me on it.
Finally I told him the dinosaurs had to go to sleep and he bought it. I almost lost my sanity, though!
Buddy didn’t have a grasp on hide and seek until recently. Here’s an entry I posted last September when he was just shy of 3 1/2 years. http://cabin77.livejournal.com/38875.html
It just gets better!
My son Tyler does the same things, he loves to hear the same songs over and over. In the car, he will pull this and you can’t get away from it! Seems like these days his favorite word is “again”.