Welcome to my Power point Presentation
(couldn't resist sorry)
"NOOOO...uh.. uh... don't touch that ... no....no...no ouchies..."
I want to design an inspirational and functional bedroom for the little Prince. It is one of my goals - a pressing one.
At the moment his boudoir is massively lacking inspiration.
It consists of a cot that resembles a prison, a tallboy which is quite frankly, too tall - a GO-LO green thing that hangs awkwardly from the ceiling housings toys that are not that interesting including a stuffed miniature kangaroo.
Is it any wonder he wants to play with the power point? So would I!
It is the only thing that is on his level!
But if the poor little mite goes anywhere near the only riveting thing in his room he gets told "UH UH NOOOO" ..
Gee, I must sound like a bad Mama kitting out my firstborn's bedroom in such a non-inspirational manner!
Well, to now it didn't really matter - he didn't take any notice.
He could only see 15cm in front of him, or so "what to expect in the first year' would have me believe.
But now... nearly 10 months old - taking notice is his middle name (we shortened it to George)
Increasingly my empathy for the boy has grown.
I want to get on his level - look at the world from his perspective and make an accessible world where he will not be resigned to looking up at the big people and forever trying to reach stuff that he "shouldn't."
Please note - I never tell him "No... NO.. don't touch that... don't touch that..."
Maybe I should I don't know.
I feel there are enough other people from the village that is raising him shouting out those commands!
I try and direct him to something he can touch instead.
I think it makes the world more of an open and exciting place for him to see what he can touch rather than being shut down at every new opportunity. And, pfffft.. what damage can really happen from turning the DVD player button on and off on and off on and off... really?
Not ideal though.
So the quest is to create a room full of stuff he CAN touch.
Stuff he actually WANTS to touch (bye bye miniature stuffed kangaroo)
Stuff that we have but his size. Mini chairs, shelves, a coat rack on his level.
Want the boy to feel a sense of independence and confidence - not feel like an ant living in the land of the Giants... know what I mean?
Has anybody created an inspiring room for their child? What did it include?
How did you do it? How did it change the world for your kid?
Posts
I commend you! Lots of people think too much from an adult perspective and think that by telling (shouting) No at children, that should be enough and they should just 'get it' and live with the rules. obviously that is not the way children work and to be successful you do need to get to their level.
ReplyDeleteYou should look up some montessori links about how to create his environment. Montessori is focused on teaching independence and using every experience as a learning experience, from finding a crumb on the floor, to pulling things off shelves to banging things together.
I also agree on the shouting no vs. 'look over here at what mama has' debate. I use the 'no thank you'. i figure, most toddler learn to scream 'no' at their parents very early because it is the most common thing they have been told. so, if i use no thank you instead (and calmly, not yelling)she will learn to say that and have some manners at least. it has worked for me in the past anyway. (in my previous life as a nanny)
PS- I find myself having to forcibly hold back from writing epic, essay like comments on your wall (yes i was holding back...imagine!)
ReplyDeletesorry for rambling instead of the nice, concise comments other people leave!
I painted a mural of a jungle scene on my son's bedroom wall. The room is painted a light green with navy blue accents. He's still in his crib, but I have a set for his bed to be with some jungle animals.
ReplyDeleteBTW: I may have mentioned before I was visiting from SITS (The Secret is in the Sauce), but since you're not familiar, I think it was from someone else's blog. Sorry for the confusion.
I working on writing a memoir. I've started and actually have a lot of working material. It's hard to get down to writing, but I hope to have a first draft manuscript by the end of the year.
What are you writing?