My brother used a kitchen knife to whittle chunks out of the side of the living room coffee table. The neat 50's style wooden table my dad made himself. He was 8. He got grief about it for a long time. Can't say he wasn't a freak but he did turn out to be the 'black sheep' of the family (problems in school, ran away, drugs, dropped out, joined the CCC, joined the Army for structure, etc...) 42 years later he is married, gainfully employed, but still a reactionary PITA.

totally normal

I was a nanny a few years ago and they kids used to have quite time in their rooms instead of naps once they got to 4ish.

I actually gave the 4 year olds the scissors to do some paper shape cutting while he was upstairs and he cut his curtains, shredded them......oh, and the 5 yo girl cut her bangs off.

Aside from that they were both really well behaved kids so I would say its totally normal OP.

My 7 yr old DS reached my razor in the bathroom and cut off a small chunk of his bangs. I barely noticed until I saw the hair in the tub and looked at him. My own brother cut my bangs when he was 7 and I was 5. Just keep permanent markers and scissors and other sharp things way out of reach for longer than you think you should

I think this is fairly common. Some parents are willing to share these sorts of stories, and others would keep this to themselves because they think it might reflect poorly on them.

It's simple, don't allow the scissors in the room.

We do this with DD - she doesn't cut up furniture - but she does cut up random things (bills on the table). We have requested that she ask if she can cut up before actually doing it.

My 4-year-old LOVES using scissors, for some reason, so I could see her getting overcome by her desire and cutting things she shouldn't. The small cuts your son made suggest to me that maybe he was trying not to inflict too much cutting damage on any one thing?

Natural consequence is sitting w and helping you fix what can be fixed. Logical consequence is doing chores to earn money to help replace the things you cant fix. Do both.
Yes normal behavior.

My D cut her own hair at least 3-4 times at that age. She loved scissors. Scissors were a great fascination for her because they really can "do" something! And scissors always get a good reaction from adults! My D is grown up now and no longer at home, and I would give anything to go back to that time---scissors and all.

Treasure your little guy. These days will pass.

And if he cuts his own hair, makes sure to get a picture.

I loped off one of two pigtails at that age. Natural consequence: having to live with it for a week.

Totally normal.

As a kid I cut my hair, dolls' hair, parts of stuffed animals' hair, clothing, carpet...

Its experimenting and I'm guessing he just thought it was fun. And honestly, I cut the fur on my stuffed animals to see if it would grow back.

My daughter did similar things at that age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He didn't say he was mad about anything. I think he had the idea to cut and he found it fun once he got started.

But most kids wouldn't do this, right?

My take- most 4 year old girls would not, but yes, most 4 yr old boys given the chance would not think it to be strange. Maybe even expect you to be proud of his work...mother of a 2 and 4 yr old boys

Mother of both boys and girls here. This is normal for both boys and girls.

Crap, 21:18, he must be a freak because he used a permanent marker on his wall three weeks ago and now this. So he's got the tools in the wrong order.

We were actually surprised it took him that long to write on the wall.

Your kid is a FREAK! By four, DC should have moved on from scissors and on to permanent markers.

Questions: has this happened before? was it done through boredom or did you get a sense it was more deliberately destructive? If the answers are "yes" and "yes" then there should be consequences. If not I think a good chat about respecting things, the cost of damage, and removal of said implements to a top shelf is in order.

It goes without saying that my kids are absolutely perfect (and extremely intelligent and advanced). But I do think that at 4 there's still the odd random act of destruction in the offering. I'd say that what you describe is very normal.