When children develop dangerous obsessions.
Almost every parent knows that from time to time a child will develop an obsession with something. It might be a new toy they got for their birthday that they like to play with and just carry around for days on end. It might be the favorite food of the week. Lets be honest, I don’t know a child who wouldn’t eat chicken nuggets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Especially if they have “Mc” in the name. Or it might be an article of clothing they like to wear because it has their favorite cartoon character or sports team on it. Point is, all children obsess.
But what happens when your child develops a dangerous obsession?
Recently Zoe has been obsessing over the knives. And I don’t mean the kind you find in your silverware drawer. Some families call them “butter knives” & other families know them by their correct name “dinner knives.” What Zoe is obsessing over, is my paring knife and my filet knife. If you don’t know what these are, that’s ok. If you have a knife block that you grab steak knifes out of they are probably in that block sitting unused & very sharp.
I first noticed this obsession when I walked into the kitchen to find out why Zoe was in there. And there she was, holding these two knives and scraping them together. Now picture me, with my mouth dropped open, my eyes bugging out, and in total fear that I can’t even speak or scream. Which is probably a good thing, because if I did say something and startled her should would have likely dropped the knives and hurt herself. I carefully walked up to her got her, took the knives away and put them back into their block that sits on the far corner of the kitchen counter with a billion things like canisters, a big basket, a cookie jar, and a tool caddy filled with wooden spoons and serving ware all in the way of it. Then, because you can’t explain to a two year old why playing with knives is wrong, I yelled at her and spanked her in an attempt to put the idea of danger and fear into her so she wouldn’t do it again.
And she did it again.
This time I was busy in the living room picking up some things, and Zoe was walking back and forth from the living room and kitchen. Then all of a sudden Zoe comes out of the kitchen holding the paring knife, all smiling and being happy and coming towards me to give me the knife. I, of course, take the knife and tell her “No!” After putting the knife back, I tell Zoe “No!” again and I yell at her to stay away from the knives again.
At this point I’m frustrated and surprised. Alex once had a similar obsession with the steak knives, and when I moved the block to the far corner of the kitchen counter and put stuff in front of it, it helped. But now Zoe is getting up there and is not deterred by the objects in the way. I can’t fit it into a cabinet, and besides, I’m afraid if I put them up on a higher shelf that if somebody knocked it they could all fall & really cause some damage. The solution? Leave them where they are, but cover them in a bag and tuck the opening behind them pressed into the wall. It’s been working to deter her so far, and I’m pretty hopeful the problem is solved.
The moral? When children develop dangerous obsessions, come up with creative solutions.
More posts like this:
- In the kitchen.. – November 24, 2004
- The naked baby. – November 18, 2003
- Flylady – A more interesting way of saying cleaning. – November 14, 2007
- When will this fit end? – July 25, 2006
- Updating Site. – May 25, 2004
Andrea
January 6th, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
Wow. Yeah, that’s why I like shows like Nanny 911. They show you creative ways to deal with problems rather than just yelling at the kid.
Thankfully, my brother’s obsession was with Pokemon and nothing more dangerous.
Andrea’s last blog post: Flash Me
Robin
January 7th, 2009 @ 3:35 pm
Zoe [Middle] [Last]!!!! Hasn’t Aunt Robin taught you anything. Ponies and barbie dolls! Not knives!!!!!