Question for mothers or fathers...Lias kids behavior.

[bananacat]

How is a kid going to know playing in a dryer is bad? It's actually not that big a deal if no-one turns the dryer on. It's not hooliganism - it doesn't hurt anyone, it doesn't break anything. The problem is you could get stuck (or there could be real hooliganism - tricking your sibling in and then turning it on. But that's not what was mentioned.)

Nobody has "instincts" about this stuff. We even have to teach kids not to touch hot things. Most people learn by being told or experience or both.

How hard is it to tell a kid not to play in a dryer? I knew better than to do that when I was a kid.

[duplessis3]

Wow, bananacat, I wish you were my kid.

I would never ever occur to me to tell my kids to not play in the dryer until after the fact. My kids haven't to my knowledge.

This list probably is stuff that has happened over YEARS (12 years!) and with different kids. A 2 yr old isn't going to know that going through his uncle's pockets is bad -esp.ly if you think that sometimes a relative will put a little surprise in their pocket and get it out. But some of this stuff - coloring the dog? sounds like a little kid thing, like 2 or 3. I came into my bathroom once and discovering my youngest had taken my lipstick, put it on, kissed all over the wall and then ate the rest of the lipstick. In the 3 or 4 minutes he had been alone.

And some shit happens when you are there! My husband and oldest were watching my youngest when he managed to grab a mirror that was leaning against a wall and break it over his head. We were once watching tv in the bedroom and the youngest quick as a wink grabbed the knobs of the dresser that the tv was on and pulled the tv and the dresser over - my oldest child grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and saved him from being crushed.

After one incident, all the sharpies/permanent markers are stored in a high place.

And here is one of mine : don't drive a nail into the dining room table. Or crack a dozen eggs on the floor. Or flush your mother's engagement ring down the toilet. And for sure NEVER LICK THE TOILET IN THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.

[debrand]

Sometimes I think that the Duggars seem worse because there are so many children. My main problem with the Duggar kids is that it doesn't appear that anyone watches them. In the past, the family didn't appear to hold the children's safety in high regard. For instance, I thought the kids were were too close to the construction happening at the Bates' house.

[zeebaneighba]

duplessis3 wrote:

And some shit happens when you are there!

I can vouch for that. Zeebakiddo # 2 managed to stick both hands in the (hot) twin tailpipes of a car when we were walking through a parking lot. Zeebakiddo # 1 broke her arm when she managed to clamber up on a chair and fall off before I could catch her. Sometimes they just do things that would never occur to an adult -- they don't have that maybe-this-isn't-a-good-idea filter.

Like taking a good bite of your sister's arm while taking a bath (they were playing baby dinosaur)

Or climbing on the shed roof to get at the mulberries in the tree in the neighbor's yard.

The shaking an open bottle of Frappacino was just pure absent-mindedness, though. :D

[Rosa]

The other thing about "I knew better than that as a kid" is people don't generally remember being 2 or 3 or even 4. You remember yourself as an older, smarter kid - one who maybe doesn't remember that they know not to put their fingers in the door because of the time it slammed on them.

Like, my boyfriend was all "My mom worked all the time and we just entertained ourselves, we knew not to get into things or wake her up if she was sleeping". His mom went back to work when he was 8. That is different than expecting a 4 or 5 year old to just entertain themselves all day while grownups do important stuff.

[Guest Anonymous]

At least she didn't have to put

Never eat Mama's contacts

That would probably be number 1 on my mother's list...

[StarrieEyedKat]

I also think the Howler Monkeys get a lot of flack mainly for being a crapload of boys within a certain age and having the energy to prove it. My brother has 4 boys between 2 and 6 and at first glance they're terrors, but they're really just energetic boys playing and being loud.

The Howler Monkeys don't bother me for the most part, but I do love their nickname, it's so appropriate.

[nonymouse]

I definitely liken her post to what I post on FB under "Things I never thought I'd have to say to my children" because they find all sorts of things to do that would never occur to me. ;)

eta: an example from just today: never, in my wildest dreams, would I have thought of having the "We don't wander around the store grabbing our crotch" conversation with my four-year-old. Girl.

[O Latin]

Seems pretty normal to me. But then again, my brother burned his binder when school got out in June. With my mom's permission.

We didn't do too crazy of stuff as kids, I don't think. My sister cut her own hair a couple times. I thought it would be fun to pour water down through the top of the lampshade. We put many, many marshmallows in the microwave. I don't remember ever playing in the dryer or coloring the dogs, though, although we did color ourselves and each other and we all tried to ride the dog around the house like a horse at one time or another. It's probably a good thing we didn't have a laundry chute. I'm sure we would've got up to some great shenanigans with one of those.

[emmiedahl]

My kids recently were playing outside with neighbors. I leave the door open when they do this because my kids are definitely of the Calvin nature. So I hear something about "bat tag" and pop out to make sure it isn't anything dangerous. They have played dinosaur tag, etc, so surely this is pretending to be a flying mammal, right? Wrong. The neighbor kid brought over his new baseball bat and they were going to use it to tag each other. Just a tap, they swore, but I could see that one getting out of hand really fast so I confiscated the potential weapon.

[Montara]

Heh, my son has done a fair few of the things on that list....he's only three, and there's only one of him. He's plenty supervised too. What they can do in the space of a few minutes is mind boggling.

Thing I'd add to the list are: "Don't put the cat in the dryer!" (it was unplugged.)

"Don't put yoghurt on the tv!"

"Why is there dog hair all over the floor? What are you holding? OMG! Where did you get scissors from? Did you just cut the dog's hair?" (He gave the dog a full on monk's tonsure hair cut. It's only just growing back to the point where she doesn't look ridiculous.)

And most memorable? "Micah, where the heck are the door handles!?!" In the time it took me to go to the toilet, he gotten a chair, climbed onto the kitchen bench, then onto the top of the fridge. He got a screwdriver off the fridge and removed BOTH front door handles. Then hid the handles and screw inside his father's shoes.

[Lillybee]

Reading here, I realize that as a rod-sparing mellow parent, my kids were really well behaved and really didn't do too much crazy stuff. But there was a time that the boys decided to take a raft ride down our rain swollen creek to ride the rapids. That was one of my scariest moments as a parent.

Then there were the things that they did that I didn't find out until they were adults, like jumping off a highway bridge into the lake.

[ladypuglover]

Our rules were/are;

Don't cut your hair or anyone elses even if they beg you to.

No running on the roof or jumping off said roof.

Towels are not capes and capes will not help you fly.

No cutting your clothes off in school or home, scissors are only to cut paper, not your school clothes.

No, you may not go with me to the store nude.

No using the microwave without an adult helping because keys, unwrapped popcorn, kleenex and batman do not like being in there.

Do not scrtatch tic tac toe into the new coffee table, I don't care if you won.

Don't practice your A B C's by carving it in the new breakfast table, yes we are proud that you know your letters at 3 but you need to use paper.

No flinging cooked spinach onto the wall and try to get out of it by saying the cat sneezed.

Do not eat my lipstick or drink my perfume.

Do not use Daddy's razor to shave your tongue.

Do not lock Mommy out of the house and then cry because you don't know how to unlock the door you just locked. Never again do this if she is in her jammies.

Do not pee whereever you feel like it. The fake palm tree at the bank doesn't need it.

If you do not want to finish your pb&j then throw it away, do not put it in my purse for later.

Never throw my purse out the car window again. That goes for shoes, shirts and your underwear. I will be angry if I find you naked again.

Do not climb the same tree that you have to be rescued by firemen every week, please find a shorter tree.

Do not drink out of the toilet.

You may eat the cat's and dog's food but do not switch meals with them. They will get sick eating your dinner. No, you will not get sick eating your dinner.

Do not hide your meatloaf in your underwear. Trust me, I will find out.

And above all finsih the sentence when you tell your teacher I beat you last night, she doesn't read minds and won't know I won at mouse trap.

[InkyGirl]

Our rules were/are;

Don't cut your hair or anyone elses even if they beg you to.

No running on the roof or jumping off said roof.

Towels are not capes and capes will not help you fly.

No cutting your clothes off in school or home, scissors are only to cut paper, not your school clothes.

No, you may not go with me to the store nude.

No using the microwave without an adult helping because keys, unwrapped popcorn, kleenex and batman do not like being in there.

Do not scrtatch tic tac toe into the new coffee table, I don't care if you won.

Don't practice your A B C's by carving it in the new breakfast table, yes we are proud that you know your letters at 3 but you need to use paper.

No flinging cooked spinach onto the wall and try to get out of it by saying the cat sneezed.

Do not eat my lipstick or drink my perfume.

Do not use Daddy's razor to shave your tongue.

Do not lock Mommy out of the house and then cry because you don't know how to unlock the door you just locked. Never again do this if she is in her jammies.

Do not pee whereever you feel like it. The fake palm tree at the bank doesn't need it.

If you do not want to finish your pb&j then throw it away, do not put it in my purse for later.

Never throw my purse out the car window again. That goes for shoes, shirts and your underwear. I will be angry if I find you naked again.

Do not climb the same tree that you have to be rescued by firemen every week, please find a shorter tree.

Do not drink out of the toilet.

You may eat the cat's and dog's food but do not switch meals with them. They will get sick eating your dinner. No, you will not get sick eating your dinner.

Do not hide your meatloaf in your underwear. Trust me, I will find out.

And above all finsih the sentence when you tell your teacher I beat you last night, she doesn't read minds and won't know I won at mouse trap.

This made me laugh! Your kid(s?) sounds amazing! :lol:

[Wolfie]

I also spent a lot of time on the roof. We had a two story house, but the front porch roof was a favorite of mine.

The stairs, oh my. Wooden stairs were the best. You could fly down those. Our stairs now have carpet so it will make it harder for mine to slide down them unless they use a cookie sheet. :D Yep, I was the one who thought of that. :lol:

That's where the sleeping bags come in. If you get one that has a smooth fabric on the outside (like a crisp woven cotton or ripstop nylon) they slide right down.

[ladypuglover]

That's where the sleeping bags come in. If you get one that has a smooth fabric on the outside (like a crisp woven cotton or ripstop nylon) they slide right down.

My siblings used laundry baskets. I wasn't as bright and tried it on my trike.

[Wolfie]

My siblings used laundry baskets. I wasn't as bright and tried it on my trike.

One of the previous owners of my parents' house had MS. It has a cement ramp up to the side door. We became very adept at riding things down the ramp and making tight turns to avoid hitting the garage.

My sister went through a phase where she'd throw herself down the stairs every few months because, "She forgot what it felt like."

[Fun-Dee]

When I was little I was notorious for writing on things. The strangest thing I ever wrote on was the lint screen from the dryer. I don't know why I did it. My mom must have had that dryer for thirty years and every time she cleaned the lint screen she had a reminder of me learning to write numbers. When I was a little older I read a book where someone finds a signature on an old bed frame from a long ago owner. Of course I had to put my name on a hidden part of my bed frame. Then I took it a step further. I removed a drawer from my desk, put my name and the date on the back of the drawer and then covered it in clear nail polish. I wonder if my old desk is still out there somewhere with my name on it.

[FireIsCatching89]

One of the previous owners of my parents' house had MS. It has a cement ramp up to the side door. We became very adept at riding things down the ramp and making tight turns to avoid hitting the garage.

My sister went through a phase where she'd throw herself down the stairs every few months because, "She forgot what it felt like."

My older brother and his little chum decided to use my partially disassembled baby crib (I was getting my big girl bed that weekend) to toboggan down our carpeted front stairs. I don't remember this, but my brother insisted it was fun, and they did indeed wear colanders on their heads as helmets (safety first!).

At our house, we did not:

-stick Cheerios up our noses

-sit in the tree in the backyard to shoot at our neighbors over the fence with supersoakers (a favorite summer activity)

-eat soap, even if it was chocolate-scented

-play superman by jumping on the bed, falling off, bumping our heads, and getting 17 stitches in the ER

-touch a hot stove burner "just to see what it felt like" resulting in ANOTHER trip to the ER with second degree burns

-try to climb the Christmas tree and smashing one of Mommy's vintage Christmas ornaments from her childhood in the process

-cut our own bangs and expect Mommy not to notice

-try to pet the goldfish

-Hold clear plastic shower caps over our entire faces as "masks" and nearly asphyxiating ourselves

-Dig up wild moles in the backyard and try to pet them

-steal lego pieces from the daycare center

-take all the pens from Daddy's briefcase and try to flush them down the toilet

-steal Daddy's beer when he's not looking and drink it IN PUBLIC (resulting in my then-four year old brother being falling-down shitfaced at the local Ren Fest)

[nonymouse]

Ladypuglover, I might just borrow some of your rules! It is both fun and frustrating having kids like ours :D

(ETA: I AM A TATER TOT, FINALLY!!! :dance: )

[SlipmeaMikki]

My siblings used laundry baskets. I wasn't as bright and tried it on my trike.

My mother's laundry baskets were always broken because we rode them down the stairs. In fact, I think my 19 year old brother tried it again last year, just to see if it was still fun. It was.

Things my siblings and I did:

-Break every laundry basket my mother after owned.

-Played "polo" using bikes and a croquet set, resulting in lots of grass stains and scrapes.

-Writing "I hate my family" on the bedroom wall and later regretting it and trying to change it to say "I love my family" (my brother at age 7)

-Collecting hail in underwear and hard hats (We have video proof to embarrass my siblings later in life)

-Knocking out 3/4 of a front tooth riding big brother's bike like she wasn't supposed to (My sister has had a fake front tooth from the age of 8 because of this)

-Go "rock-climbing" up the outside of the stairs using jumpropes and hockey pads and almost breaking the banister in the process.

-I accidently slammed my brother's finger in the closet door while my dad was in the hospital. My dad grabbed my brother in one hand and his IV in the other and headed to the nurses station. He ended up getting stitches.

Things my Dad and his 6 siblings did:

-Try to imitate a knife-thrower using darts and piercing the youngest in the throat with a dart (thankfully it wasn't serious)

-My dad found the sled he was supposed to get for Christmas early and proceeded to accidently smash it into a pole

-The youngest sister put on mom's negligee and pretended to be superman by jumping off of the concrete barbecue and knocking out her teeth

-The second youngest sister had a swimming teacher tell her to jump towards the wall if she was scared of the diving board. She ended up overshooting the pool and being taken to the hospital in an ambulance

-Accidently burning down a barn while visiting their 7 cousins for the summer

[Chrystal-J]

My boy cousins and I were always doing crazy things when we were young. We used to ride our mattress down the stairs. My cousin pretended to be Superman and jumped off the roof (sprained his ankle). We were forever digging holes in the backyard and someone swung the shovel right into my cousin's face and he bled out of his forehead like it was a fountain. (He got stitches.) My cousin was really hyper and always getting hurt. We used to climb up these really weak vines (that were attached to trees) and they would break and we'd fall to the ground. I have scars from those days, but I had fun as a kid too.

[LynnKaboom]

That actually sounds pretty normal. My brother, my cousins, my friends, and I did some crazy shit when we were younger too. Like the time we made our own flamethrowers from hairspray and lighters and very nearly set the neighbor's car on fire. Or the time my cousin decided to dye the cat with Kool-Aid (the cat was fine, just purple for a while). Or the time my friend stole his mom's car at age 9, and we all piled in and drove around the neighborhood. Or the time I decided I wanted to paint the wall with nail polish. Or the time my brother decided he wanted to shave, like Dad, and ended up needing stitches in his face (he was four).

Or maybe my family and my group of friends are just insane.

[bbfreethinker]

When I was little I was notorious for writing on things. The strangest thing I ever wrote on was the lint screen from the dryer. I don't know why I did it. My mom must have had that dryer for thirty years and every time she cleaned the lint screen she had a reminder of me learning to write numbers. When I was a little older I read a book where someone finds a signature on an old bed frame from a long ago owner. Of course I had to put my name on a hidden part of my bed frame. Then I took it a step further. I removed a drawer from my desk, put my name and the date on the back of the drawer and then covered it in clear nail polish. I wonder if my old desk is still out there somewhere with my name on it.

When I was little I wrote my name on our brick house with chalk (right by the front door) that for some reason wouldn't come off. As I got older I told my parents that the house would be worth a lot of money when I became famous.

[forever ago]

I was once at a Halloween party playing manhunt/hide-and-seek, and someone did actually hide on the roof of a shed. We were all in high school.

My boyfriend and his friend (my sister's boyfriend) made flame throwers from Axe, bug spray, lighters, and a candle. They are 20 and 19, respectively. This wasn't too long ago.

My sister and her boyfriend also dyed his cat green and his dog blue, for Mother's Day. My sister is 17. They used food coloring, which didn't hurt either pet.

Me, my sister, and some neighborhood friends also shot off bottle rockets (illegal) and set a fire in the middle of the road in a different neighborhood. This was 2 years ago.

so yeah...