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Well maybe it is not a vehicle, it is a shopping cart. But the dangers still exist. Any time we put our son into the seat of a shopping cart shopping becomes an even greater challenge. He likes to look around, which is fine. But he also likes to reach out and grab and touch just about everything on every shelf and down every aisle.
That is where the challenge begins. We want him to be happy so the shopping trip can be as quick and painless as possible. We will give him a soft, non-breakable item to hold and play with such as an empty food carton or stuffed animal. As long as he is entertained by those items we are in good shape. But every parent knows that a child's attention span is no longer than a blink or two of an eye. After they are bored with whatever toy or item they are holding they begin to reach for everything (and sometimes everyone) who is within arm's length. It is during these times when we must remain more vigilant and use "the eyes in the back of our heads" to prevent any real damage. Turn your head at the wrong time and the next noise you will hear will be cans crashing to the ground. None of us want to pay for extra toys or items that are broken and of no value to us. The best solution is keep your child's hands and feet inside the vehicle...
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 There is only one way to find out whether our children will like something. That is for them to try it. Whether it's food, drink, an activity or anything else. Sometimes it works well, other times not so much.
Today we we took our son to his first baseball game (Yankees vs. Marlins). We did not know how he would react to all the people and the noise. But he absolutely loved it. He clapped when the fans clapped. He watched the ball after the batters would hit it. It certainly did not hurt that we were feeding him but he still enjoyed himself. (Or did it have something to do with the cheerleader giving him hugs?) Going in in to the game we had no idea what to expect. We can go back to another game and he can scream the entire time we are there. Not likely, but always possible. We are of the mindset that our son should try everything. If he does not like it, on to the next. But we will keep trying. They absorb everything around them. Everything we say, everything we do. It is incredible. We do not always realize it until they repeat the word or mimic the act. But they watch and hear it all. Both the good and the bad.
We are all guilty of it. We say something without thinking then realize our child has just heard it. Obviously it cannot be taken back but we can try our best not to repeat that word or sentence. Eventually they will hear it and say it, but we try our best to shelter them until they are old enough to understand it. In today's information age, however, that understanding can come much earlier than when we were children. Protecting our children from that vast amount of readily available information is the topic for another (or many other) posts. As much as they absorb the bad, they absorb the good. Funny noises. How to laugh. How to talk. Our son, for example, has learned to give kisses and enjoys doing so. I am not sure exactly who taught him, but he likes to grab my face with his hands and give me a kiss. It is cute when he does it, but not something I expected him to do. He obviously learned it from someone as that is not something he would just start doing I don't believe. We are happy for him to learn new things, sometimes they make you wonder... |
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