When will my kid stop destroying everything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are so much worse at this than other. I have 3 and 2 largely did the right thing. But then that other one was the one that scribbled on the walls, threw things at the doors leaving marks, spilled drinks staining rugs, sneaked food out of the kitchen and got it on furniture, put hard to peel off stickers on furniture, flushed objects down the toilet, put pencils down the shower drain, and on and on. It's got better around 5-6.

Did you supervise that one as that's absurd they are behaving that way.

Well, this one has ADHD. Her mind works very differently. But I guess that's absurd to you.

I agree it depends on the kid. I have two who have basically never destroyed anything and a 3rd who is a walking tornado, currently age 4. I'm holding out hope that I can leave him unattended for more than 30 seconds without disaster by age 5...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are so much worse at this than other. I have 3 and 2 largely did the right thing. But then that other one was the one that scribbled on the walls, threw things at the doors leaving marks, spilled drinks staining rugs, sneaked food out of the kitchen and got it on furniture, put hard to peel off stickers on furniture, flushed objects down the toilet, put pencils down the shower drain, and on and on. It's got better around 5-6.

Did you supervise that one as that's absurd they are behaving that way.

Well, this one has ADHD. Her mind works very differently. But I guess that's absurd to you.

I agree it depends on the kid. I have two who have basically never destroyed anything and a 3rd who is a walking tornado, currently age 4. I'm holding out hope that I can leave him unattended for more than 30 seconds without disaster by age 5...

I knew for a long time something was different with that one but it took a few years to understand the reason why. The 3 kids are all in the same house, under the same rules, but very different outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are so much worse at this than other. I have 3 and 2 largely did the right thing. But then that other one was the one that scribbled on the walls, threw things at the doors leaving marks, spilled drinks staining rugs, sneaked food out of the kitchen and got it on furniture, put hard to peel off stickers on furniture, flushed objects down the toilet, put pencils down the shower drain, and on and on. It's got better around 5-6.

Did you supervise that one as that's absurd they are behaving that way.

Well, this one has ADHD. Her mind works very differently. But I guess that's absurd to you.

I agree it depends on the kid. I have two who have basically never destroyed anything and a 3rd who is a walking tornado, currently age 4. I'm holding out hope that I can leave him unattended for more than 30 seconds without disaster by age 5...

Dp. And +1. My 3.5 yr old wants to break everything so he can “fix” it. He’s just fascinated with breaking things and putting it back together. That PP can pat herself on the back all she wants, but her kids just aren’t as destructive as others and she has NO idea how destructive a curious toddler can be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are so much worse at this than other. I have 3 and 2 largely did the right thing. But then that other one was the one that scribbled on the walls, threw things at the doors leaving marks, spilled drinks staining rugs, sneaked food out of the kitchen and got it on furniture, put hard to peel off stickers on furniture, flushed objects down the toilet, put pencils down the shower drain, and on and on. It's got better around 5-6.

Did you supervise that one as that's absurd they are behaving that way.

Well, this one has ADHD. Her mind works very differently. But I guess that's absurd to you.

I agree it depends on the kid. I have two who have basically never destroyed anything and a 3rd who is a walking tornado, currently age 4. I'm holding out hope that I can leave him unattended for more than 30 seconds without disaster by age 5...

Dp. And +1. My 3.5 yr old wants to break everything so he can “fix” it. He’s just fascinated with breaking things and putting it back together. That PP can pat herself on the back all she wants, but her kids just aren’t as destructive as others and she has NO idea how destructive a curious toddler can be.

Yes it's a lot of "I wonder what would happen if...." and then they do it. Because they can't control the impulse and the potential consequences aren't anywhere on their radar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are so much worse at this than other. I have 3 and 2 largely did the right thing. But then that other one was the one that scribbled on the walls, threw things at the doors leaving marks, spilled drinks staining rugs, sneaked food out of the kitchen and got it on furniture, put hard to peel off stickers on furniture, flushed objects down the toilet, put pencils down the shower drain, and on and on. It's got better around 5-6.

Did you supervise that one as that's absurd they are behaving that way.

Well, this one has ADHD. Her mind works very differently. But I guess that's absurd to you.

I agree it depends on the kid. I have two who have basically never destroyed anything and a 3rd who is a walking tornado, currently age 4. I'm holding out hope that I can leave him unattended for more than 30 seconds without disaster by age 5...

Dp. And +1. My 3.5 yr old wants to break everything so he can “fix” it. He’s just fascinated with breaking things and putting it back together. That PP can pat herself on the back all she wants, but her kids just aren’t as destructive as others and she has NO idea how destructive a curious toddler can be.

Yes it's a lot of "I wonder what would happen if...." and then they do it. Because they can't control the impulse and the potential consequences aren't anywhere on their radar.

Yup. He also just cannot comprehend that there are some things adults simply can’t fix. Toddler devastation ensues.

[Anonymous]

Yeah why do people respond to a thread like this to report their child doesn’t do this? Not helpful to OP, and by the way, if your child doesn’t do this, it has nothing to do with your superior parenting or supervision. For us, it was definitely better by K. I really needed to watch them completely through all of preschool. It’ll happen gradually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are so much worse at this than other. I have 3 and 2 largely did the right thing. But then that other one was the one that scribbled on the walls, threw things at the doors leaving marks, spilled drinks staining rugs, sneaked food out of the kitchen and got it on furniture, put hard to peel off stickers on furniture, flushed objects down the toilet, put pencils down the shower drain, and on and on. It's got better around 5-6.

Did you supervise that one as that's absurd they are behaving that way.

Well, this one has ADHD. Her mind works very differently. But I guess that's absurd to you.

I agree it depends on the kid. I have two who have basically never destroyed anything and a 3rd who is a walking tornado, currently age 4. I'm holding out hope that I can leave him unattended for more than 30 seconds without disaster by age 5...

Dp. And +1. My 3.5 yr old wants to break everything so he can “fix” it. He’s just fascinated with breaking things and putting it back together. That PP can pat herself on the back all she wants, but her kids just aren’t as destructive as others and she has NO idea how destructive a curious toddler can be.

Yes it's a lot of "I wonder what would happen if...." and then they do it. Because they can't control the impulse and the potential consequences aren't anywhere on their radar.

Yup. He also just cannot comprehend that there are some things adults simply can’t fix. Toddler devastation ensues.

I wasn't as mischievous as my DD but I remember trying to curl Barbie's hair with a curling iron. It didn't end well. I also spilled grape juice all over my shirt when my mom turned her back before warning me not to spill it, because it would stain. I wanted to know if that was true. Some kids are just always going to push the envelope. It can be frustrating when they are little but it means the wheels are turning and it can be a good thing later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want to have in my head the horizon for when we might be able to spend peaceful time at home together without having to watch them every second lest something be permanently damaged.

My 16 yo totaled our car. So a) it’s going to be a while and b) getting out of the house sometimes just provides more options for mayhem.

[Anonymous]

42

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:42

1. I cackled when I saw this

2. Oh no, the next 40 years are going to be so bad

3. At least by elementary they start to have some semblance of ownership and responsibility for the destruction even if it doesn’t lessen? Right?

[Anonymous]

Hi OP! Fellow mom of a bill in a China shop. It honestly gets better right at 4yo, with steep improvement from there. Hang in, I remember that phase.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it feels like it gets worse. At two my kid sometimes ripped pages out of books or scribbled on things I wish she wouldn't. She doesn't do that stuff now, at 6, but she's bigger and way more active and she randomly breaks things by knocking them off tables. She spills constantly. She's an incredibly messy eater and it seem to get worse, not better, as she ages, despite much effort on our part to teach and model a tidier approach.

She's just kind of all over the place, easily distracted, clumsy at times with her body growing so fast, but stronger and faster and bigger than she used to be. A 2 year old can be destructive but also tends to be somewhat contained. A 6 year old (or 10 year old, or 16 year old) has a much wider range but is also still learning and things get broken and ruined in that learning process.

We are planning to buy a new couch and new rugs once she outgrows it. That might be in a couple years, or it could be when she moves out of the house. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

My little brother took everything apart, from the time he could grasp things to even when he got older, to see how it worked. He is now a very successful engineer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah why do people respond to a thread like this to report their child doesn’t do this? Not helpful to OP, and by the way, if your child doesn’t do this, it has nothing to do with your superior parenting or supervision. For us, it was definitely better by K. I really needed to watch them completely through all of preschool. It’ll happen gradually.

Actually it has a lot to do with parenting and supervision. Mine tried to test limits and we put a stop to it each and every time and they knew better. Sure they wanted to jump on the couch, but we pulled them off each time. We didn't keep anything fragile out and anything that could be used as a weapon of destruction, we kept away supervised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah why do people respond to a thread like this to report their child doesn’t do this? Not helpful to OP, and by the way, if your child doesn’t do this, it has nothing to do with your superior parenting or supervision. For us, it was definitely better by K. I really needed to watch them completely through all of preschool. It’ll happen gradually.

Actually it has a lot to do with parenting and supervision. Mine tried to test limits and we put a stop to it each and every time and they knew better. Sure they wanted to jump on the couch, but we pulled them off each time. We didn't keep anything fragile out and anything that could be used as a weapon of destruction, we kept away supervised.

You’re just proving that you don’t have one of these innately destructive children, because if you did you know there’s no keeping away “anything that can be used as a weapon of destruction” because ANYTHING can be used as a weapon of destruction.