I am finally getting around to doing another update. I really want to do better with keeping up with my blog. It's just hard to find time with 3 kids, a job, and a house to tend to.
J.K. is 4 1/2 years old. Everyone tells me he's not a typical 4 year old. Is this normal: We (J.K., Isaac, Stewart and me) get home and have the usual madness trying to get the car unloaded. J.K. and Isaac both got their pants wet at work (playing in the hose) so rode him without any on. I refuse to let them be in the front yard without pants. J.K. gets in trouble for riding his bike away from me while laughing and has to go in the house to sit in timeout. For once, he actually sits himself in timeout (No kicking and screaming leaving me to drag him there.), stays there (except for the run to the bathroom) and waits for me to finish unloading the car. (I swear my minivan is filled to the brim everyday!) Isaac goes to play in the backyard so I sit to nurse Stewart and do yet another breathing treatment on him. J.K. comes and gets me and wants to show me and Stewart something in my bedroom. He spots a teddy bear on the floor in the living room and tells me to wait. He grabs the bear and disappears into my bedroom. Out he comes and insists that I close my eyes. He opens my bedroom door and smiling from ear to ear, shows me that he made my bed and Isaac's crib. No, they're not perfectly made but definitely better than how I left them. (Later when I see the quilt folded down, I realize how nicely the sheet and blanket are pulled up.) So, is this normal for a 4 year old?
This happens at least once a week. Later in the evening, we get him to pick up the legos and so he continues picking up toys in the playroom. Then I see him with a "green" cleaner and rag cleaning the kitchen counter. (I was glued to Lost at the time.) I'm not sure what else he cleaned. J.K. often decorates/sets our dining table. He prefers tablecloths to placemats. He likes to change up where everyone sits. He has pulled the piano bench over to the table for him and Isaac to sit on. J.K. does laundry. Within the last month he has learned to ask me which setting to put certain clothes on. He knows that his clothes go on the Kids setting; he looks for the K. He doesn't usually remember to change the clothes from the washer to the dryer, but if he is wanting to do a load, he will move the clothes in the washer over to the dryer.
I guess about a week ago, J.K. decorated some butcher paper then disappeared out the front door several times. I finally went to look and saw that he had taped up his newest drawing along with several other art pieces on our front porch. He even took some framed pictures outside and set them on the porch. I found it to be quite hysterical.
One day during the summer J.K. decided to hang up some of his clothes in the backyard. He told me that he wanted them to be freshened up. I am still baffled to this day about where he learned this. Yes, clothes are much fresher when hung outside to dry, but where did my 4-year old learn this?
J.K. is such an interesting child. I am the baby in my family so I wasn't really around young children much. I spent at least 6 weeks every summer with my cousins, but since I was a kid, I was too busy being one and not paying attention to what was normal. I never acted the way J.K. does. However, I do recall my mom saying that up until age 3, I was very good about keeping my toys picked up. I'm unsure what happened.
Now, just because J.K. likes to clean, do laundry, vacuum, mop, etc., it does not mean that he is a clean child. He can make a mess just like any other! It's a constant battle to keep the house clean with 3 boys!
J.K. is really an amazing child. He is a wonderful big brother and protects and cares for Stewart. He and Isaac have their moments. J.K. likes to direct a lot, and Isaac at 2 is more into doing what he wants to do. J.K. is a creator child because he is always creating something. He is always on the go! J.K. loves to do tumbling/gymnastics. He is a very active boy. He likes books and is really into his new leapfrog reader. It's an amazing device that is like a pen but can read books (that are made for it), make the character sounds or sounds for whatever you tap the pen on in the book. J.K. is hooked on Handy Manny right now, and he wants to see the same episode time after time. Oh the joys of On Demand! J.K. is a spirited child, and it is exciting to see what new creation he will have to show us each day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
He sounds like Daisy, lol. She's only 2, of course, so she doesn't get quite as much accomplished, but she does have some very specific ideas about how things should be done and she cleans things up all the time...not always the things I want cleaned...Oh, and she throws fits over people not sitting where she wants them to, or using bathrooms she doesn't want us to use, or a million other little things.
I wouldn't worry *too* much about it right now, as long as it's not things that prevent him (and the rest of you) from enjoying and participating in other activities. We think Daisy probably has, or will have, OCD. My husband and my sister and my husband's sister all have it. Rory has some OCD quirks too, although his have gotten better as he's gotten older. Daisy's are getting worse. If it gets to a point where it's diving you nuts, or he can't do anything else, or you notice it bothering HIM (ie, he wants to play with trucks, but can't until he meets the compulsion to make the beds), then you could talk to his dr about it. It's pretty unusual for kids to get to that point at a young age though.
Oh, and there are some laundry detergent commercials about laundry smelling as fresh as if they'd been dried outside, so that's probably where he got that!
Post a Comment