Talk to me about destructive children. Not the aggressive sort but

[OldGregg]

the fiddling, don't-really-think-about-what-they're-doing sort. DD1 is very, very tactile, always looks with her hands and mouth. She's nearly 7yo and it is driving me mad.

Today she has broken the TV. Yesterday she cut through the cord of one of my necklaces, I'm sure she's not doing it to be naughty, but if she sees a pair of scissors she just has to cut something - unfortunately the nail scissors were next to the necklace on my dressing table, so snip snip. If you leave post on the kitchen table it will get drawn on - despite the constant availability of drawing paper/craft stuff. Endless things get snapped when she is 'looking' at them and the wallpaper in her bedroom is always being picked off.

Does it ever stop? My parenting cupboard is bare and I don't know what to try next (but chopping her bloody hands off might be a start).

the only thing that helps in this house is to lock all the scissors and drawing implements away. LOCK.

No experience at this level, but would it help if you gave her something constructive to do with her over-active fine motor skills, girlie lego or lots of craft sets?

I wish I could lock everything away! But how do you lock away your TV?!

On the one hand she's brilliant because she can make breakfast but on the other hand she's annoying because she'll idly tear off the bottom of the cereal packet. Arghhhh!

flack - we have magnetix, lego, etc and a large craft cupboard. It's not lack of opportunity/stimulation it's more like a finger-sucking habit. (She does that too).

i know, I know I know. Ds1 cut my washing line down with a pair of fecking nail clippers the other week. He broke my dad's car door fiddling with it. In fact a couple of weeks ago I started a thread because I was driven nearly to tears. I don't have the answers, I wish I did.

How old is your DS?

Are you colditz btw? I'm DuchessofNorks. I should change my name back, this one hasn't bought me much luck!

He's 5, and yes, although I am sad to see it doesn't get better - I was hoping that 7 was thew age of keeping-your-ruddy-fingers-to-yourself, but clearly not.

o dear god i shouldn't have opened this

dd is only 3 and ds only 2 but already they do most of that stuff.

never had scissors where they can reach thank god but they have to have their hands in anything within reach.

if they find a pen or pencil the walls, floor and every scrap of paper gets 'decorated' they rip things to pieces, break their toys to 'see what's inside', pick at threads (every carpet in the house has a hole as tey pick a thread loose and then pull it up until they'r caught doing it), if i leave any cream, liquid or bottle or cup of any kind in reach it's poured/smeared/drunk.

they can't watch tv without feeling the need to press every button and 'check' the wores round the back.

if they see a button they press it, dd can't stand at the front dorr without repeatedly pressign the doorbell, likewise if dp lets her sit in the front of the car while they're waiting for me to run into the shops i'll come back and find every setting on the radio, air conditioning, mirrors, etc changed.

i was so hoping it was a toddler thing and they'd grow out of it

whoops, should have spell checked that one!

pt - it might be a toddler-thing with your DCs [hopeful emoticon]. If you have right-on creative pre-school staff they will wax lyrical about your DCs lovely curious nature and how to encourage their tactile learning, whilst you smile in a tight-jawed way and think no, no, no and no.

mine usually cut their hair or i remember one particularly lovely dress that had been given - unfortnately scissors taken to it doesnt equal a lovely dress.
dd has a beautifully lopsided hairstyle.

lol.... thank heaven for our lovely homely community run playschool who know all to well what to encourage and what not to as they're all mothers themselves

they were non too impressed with dd either during her shoving things down the sink phase

will contiue praying it's a toddler thing but the more i see all the other kids their age and how they behave the more panicy i get!

it's dinner time that puts me into nervous breakdown mode every day though..... they have to touch their food and mash it up and smear it on the table and pour their milk in it. it'd be one thing if they weren't eating, i could just end the meal but ds at least does eat it even after using it as playdoh. and dd eats little enough without stealing her carefully disected fishfingers.