Toddlerhood is in full swing.
And I'm tired.
But enough about me!
We have few problems with Willow, but one big one we've had to face recently (and one in which Willow is thoroughly kicking our butts) is the matter of her throwing food during lunch and supper to the floor.
This happens nearly every day and usually goes down like this: She eats a little of her food, then -- WHOOSH -- she flips the plate to the floor, and, most of the time, the food flies in all sorts of directions. This sort of behavior is why we have little pinto-bean spatter spots all over one of our walls in the dining room (it looks like we tried to cover up a murder in there ... badly).
We read in one of our parenting magazines that toddlers do this sort of thing because they're learning about physics. "They're little scientists!" I recall the magazine chirping. The tots throw food because they're experimenting on what kind of "plops" they can make, or they're gauging their parents' reactions to the experiment. Well, I just have to call bull-hockey on this!
I don't know why Willow does it, but I suspect she's trying to capture attention from Mommy and me. More likely, I think, she has discovered this is the most efficient way to end supper time. Even more likely, I think she likes watching me on all fours, scrubbing the floor. Evil.
We've done all sorts of things trying to get her to stop, but we've had little luck. We've finally determined we're just going to have to let the food-throwing run its course. She'll stop doing it, right?
I had some success today, though. Before I gave her her food, I told her, as simply as I could, that if she threw food on the floor, I'd have to put her in time out. "Do you understand?" She nodded.
She didn't throw any food!
Hallelujah!
No. She took all the food off her plate and put it to the side, then she tossed the plate to the floor!
And I'm tired.
But enough about me!
We have few problems with Willow, but one big one we've had to face recently (and one in which Willow is thoroughly kicking our butts) is the matter of her throwing food during lunch and supper to the floor.
This happens nearly every day and usually goes down like this: She eats a little of her food, then -- WHOOSH -- she flips the plate to the floor, and, most of the time, the food flies in all sorts of directions. This sort of behavior is why we have little pinto-bean spatter spots all over one of our walls in the dining room (it looks like we tried to cover up a murder in there ... badly).
We read in one of our parenting magazines that toddlers do this sort of thing because they're learning about physics. "They're little scientists!" I recall the magazine chirping. The tots throw food because they're experimenting on what kind of "plops" they can make, or they're gauging their parents' reactions to the experiment. Well, I just have to call bull-hockey on this!
I don't know why Willow does it, but I suspect she's trying to capture attention from Mommy and me. More likely, I think, she has discovered this is the most efficient way to end supper time. Even more likely, I think she likes watching me on all fours, scrubbing the floor. Evil.
We've done all sorts of things trying to get her to stop, but we've had little luck. We've finally determined we're just going to have to let the food-throwing run its course. She'll stop doing it, right?
I had some success today, though. Before I gave her her food, I told her, as simply as I could, that if she threw food on the floor, I'd have to put her in time out. "Do you understand?" She nodded.
She didn't throw any food!
Hallelujah!
No. She took all the food off her plate and put it to the side, then she tossed the plate to the floor!
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