Holly = Curious George
My cousin pointed out to me a week or so ago that Holly is a Curious George (much like my cousin’s third child, whom she calls George, even though that is not his name). For those who don’t know, Curious George is a monkey whose heart is in the right place, but he is constantly getting into trouble; in other words, Holly. Holly will play with her toys about 10% of the time. The rest of the time, she is doing things like putting all the napkin rings into my printer, turning Rob’s computer off while he is sitting at it working, dropping her extra pacies behind the dresser, stirring the toilet with a stuffed animal, drawing on her face with Linlee’s markers, eating out of the garbage, hiding in the pantry, emptying any cupboard or drawer that is not baby-locked, shoving her entire fist (wrist deep) into a container of jam, locking me in the bedroom – the list could go on and on. Her newest trick this weekend was to figure out how to open the car door. Good grief. When we solved that problem by locking the doors, she figured out how to unlock the door first, then open it. While she was on a roll, she figured out how to unbuckle her carseat as well. She can’t manage the chest harness (yet), but she can push the button and unlatch the two belts between her legs. HOLY COW. Rob managed to come up with a quick fix for the door.
Above is a door and lock which she can operate.
And here is the door next to her seat, now covered in press-n-seal wrap. I imagine it won’t be long before she simply pulls the wrap off, but so far, she is leaving it alone. We can’t put her in the middle of the back seat because Linlee still has a 5-point booster and both seats take up the entire back. We do have plans to get a mini-van in the next year. We may end up having to get one sooner than later. Can you believe that little stinker?
UPDATE: My wonderful friend Anne just explained to me where the child safety locks are on our car doors. (We didn’t think our car had any.) DUHHHHHHH.
Anyhow, if my posts become more infrequent, it is because I have one child wearing me out physically and the other wearing me out psychologically (see post below). I am determined to keep up with them and be the best mother I can be, but right now, that’s taking everything I have. The blog may have to have to take a backseat for a while.
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You can see mischief in this child’s eyes behind the beauty of course, it is blinking saying ok, what do I get into next?:). Hugs my dear, wish I was closer to help out!
Sorry, had to laugh though this post as I’ve been there. Glad that you found the child safety lock, love them.
through this post…oy my typing.
Glad you found the safety locks but I hate that she can unbuckle her harness!!! What a stinker (although I did have to chuckle at the fist in the jam image:)
Yes, I had to laugh about the jam, too! Hope things calm down soon.
You could make a little padded cloth cover to put over the buckle so she can’t put direct pressure on the button to press it down. Velcro it shut on the backside so she can’t get to it.
christina
I laughed through this entire post – out loud most of the time. Stirring the toilet with a stuffed animal, fist in the jam!! This ROCKS if you’re reading it and starved for entertainment. This, of course, does NOT rock if you’re parenting it. One of the boys who came to Ben’s party this afternoon also came with his little 2-year old sister. She was wearing a wig, a princess dress, and about 2 ounces of permanent marker all over her face. Given this, you might think to hide (or destroy) any permanent markers you have in your house before Holly finds them.
Nice to have friends who can help a girl out. Yay for Anne! I have no idea if/how I could find child locks on my car. I’ll have to check it out. Or send for Anne.
After about the fifth time Holly wrote on her all over her body and face (I’m a slow learner), I threw out all the markers. Linlee was not putting the caps back on anyway, so no more markers in this house until the girls are older.
For a short while, buckling the carseat latches backwards (if it allows it) will make it harder for Holly to unbuckle herself. Or it will merely hone her unbuckling skills.
We only had Color Wonder brand markers for a few years (they only color on Color Wonder brand paper). Crayons were not the solution for us. Please tell me your Sharpies are locked up with your tylenol and sharp knives!
On a more serious note, we remind George’s siblings on a regular basis that God created Geo. His busyness and creativity, despite how it wears us out, is developing his personality. God has plans for his little life and we need to nurture that, not squelch that as the 14 year old would prefer! George’s endless energy and enthusiasm properly channeled will develop into a energetic, bright, go-getter of a young man. I spend a fair amount of time trying to demonstrate the up-side of their brother’s double-timed pace of life. It’s a bit lost on the older two… Seven years of George has them a bit worn out.
Linlee doesn’t seem to bothered and perhaps she won’t be, but you take heart. You will survive & all Holly’s energy is there for a reason. God’s going to do great things with your little ones… All this work is worth it (even if it doesn’t get documented on the blog)!