Sunday, October 4, 2009

Here we go again!

Week 2 of Calvin's leadership skills. He has taken his creative destruction to new rooms and outside! I didn't get pictures of everything - I was too angry. It's getting funnier as I think about posting, but it wasn't a few days ago. Where to begin? How about the utility room - my utility room has some food storage, my freezer, and our 72 hour kit in it. We have a case of 20 water bottles with about 6 more stacked on top of it as part of our 72 hour hit. Calvin got one out of the utility room and dumped it out. Mike was home that day and told him it wasn't a good idea. So the next day he and Madeline dumped about 20 bottles of water out before I found them. I thought they were playing outside (which they were, but were going in and out carrying the water bottles). The water bottles and lids scattered all over my yard wasn't a pretty site. I got after him and told him not to touch my water again! The next day he took two more and dumped them on my porch - he was cleaning it for me!
Then they moved it completely outside. The next day they discovered that Mike had left the shed unlocked. They carried armfuls of tools out of the shed. They took my garden apart (it was already partially taken apart, they just made a bigger mess) and then spread my piles of gravel
and dirt everywhere with dad's tools and scrap lumber. Fun, fun!
Calvin has gotten swats and spent so much time in time out - but it obviously isn't working. He continues to do things he knows he shouldn't do. He is a very smart 4 1/2 year old. When asked about it - he has all the right answers - he knows what he is doing and knows it's wrong. He was really destructive like this when he was 2 and 3 years old but had been so good for so long that this has really taken me by surprise. I'm hoping he gets it out of his system and decides to be obedient again!


A few of the water bottles Madeline picked up and threw away.


Madeline looking deceivingly cute with her cowboy boots on (she won't call them cowgirl boots)


4 comments:

Stephanie said...

Sally I'm so sorry. He really is quite a handful and it is frustrating that he knows better. I'm sure you'll find a discipline technique that will work on him soon.

Jessica said...

I think you might need industrial strength velcro. Put a big velcro pad on a chair and then stitch its matching velcro pad onto his pants...maybe on every pair of pants he owns....then just plop him down on the velcro chair and let him try to squirm. I haven't seen this available anywhere yet but as you can tell I've been thinking about it for awhile. I really need it for Abe. If I can invent it I'll sell it for one easy payment of $19.95.

Sally said...

I'll take it - let me know when it's ready for resale =)

Twinlinebackers said...

Before you kill that kid (which sounds inevitably soon) - I wonder what's going on with him. Coming from someone who doesn't know him at ALL, it sounds like he is really struggling. Have you tried asking him about his feelings at a neutral time when he isn't in trouble (ha ha if you can find one of those!)? When Prince gets out of hand it's because he isn't getting the attention he needs - and he needs a lot. With his sister gone, he is probably really struggling to find his place in your new family dynamic. Try some 1 on 1 dad time. Try mommy time. See if it helps. If not, maybe Jessica will come through for you soon on the velcro or I have those handcuffs still...