Preschoolers do.
Megan's preschool held parent teacher conferences at the beginning of the year. Her teacher mentioned that Megan's skills with scissors could improve, and advised that I let her use them more. Hmm. Kind of counterintuitive to me. But whatever, we'll give it a try.
It was bad advice. This teacher doesn't have kids of her own yet, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
As a result of trying this new experiment, we have had to find more original and higher places to store our scissors the last few months. We own a few different sets, but the above pair is the only one I can find anymore. My preschooler loves to get a hold of them and go to town on anything in her path.
She loves to cut papers and crafts into little, minuscule pieces. Not that bad, but such a pain to clean up. I stopped her before she cut the ballet slippers off her Angelina Ballerina. She couldn't get into the fridge, so she cut off the fridge lock. More than once, she has cut up her dress ups and fake necklaces. Yesterday, it was reported to me that she started cutting up her Polly Pockets. "But, don't worry, Mom," She reassured me. "It was only the Polly Pockets I didn't like."
She loves to cut papers and crafts into little, minuscule pieces. Not that bad, but such a pain to clean up. I stopped her before she cut the ballet slippers off her Angelina Ballerina. She couldn't get into the fridge, so she cut off the fridge lock. More than once, she has cut up her dress ups and fake necklaces. Yesterday, it was reported to me that she started cutting up her Polly Pockets. "But, don't worry, Mom," She reassured me. "It was only the Polly Pockets I didn't like."
Why does she keep getting the scissors, you might ask? Because she finds them! And she has no fear of heights!
Our children's quirks like this come and go. But when we're in the middle of them, I find myself thinking "I'm certain we could live without scissors in our house at all for a few months. At least until so-and-so grows out of doing this, right?"
And then I realize that motherhood is not a synonym for desperation. At least not literally.
7 comments:
Natalie that is the worst! I feel lucky that none of my children have really gone through a scissors stage. I think it's funny that the teacher advised you to let her practice. Why do kids that age need scissor skills anyway?
That is so funny! It reminds me of one of my most traumatic childhood experiences. On the first day of Kindergarten we had to cut shapes out and glue them down to make a house. My mom had never let me use scissors, so I was at a complete loss as to what to do. I started cutting away and nothing even resembled a shape at all. I began to cry and was so embarrassed. It is seriously the only thing I remember about being five. So at least Megan will be COMPLETELY comfortable with the art that is scissor cutting. :)
Hey, at least she hasn't cut her hair yet....or has she???
Hmm, haven't had the problem with scissors. Pens though definitely. And how do you hide all the pens in the house? Unless of course you need one, then they hide themselves.
It's scotch tape at our house - at least with Alex. I find little bits of it everywhere - on the banister, on the fridge door, on the door handles and drawer pulls, on the kitchen floor (ask Dad how long it took to scrape up a piece at our old house). I have to hide the tape and then I can't find it when I need it. With Sarah, it's glue. Once she cut out little people and glued them to her wall. Too bad she hadn't figured out the joy of scotch tape.
My suggestion? Get Megan a little pair of ladybug scissors (or some cutesy pair), and a shoe box full of random paper you don't care about. Then tell her she can only use her scissors on her paper - and she has to ask you first. Taking those items away can be the consequence for any bad decisions with scissors.
Just a thought....
When we started seeing a neuropsych and an Occupational Therapist for Alyson, they both suggested letting her use scissors. I think we have been luckier than you, though, as Aly only cuts up paper at the kitchen table. She loves it, and her fine motor skills have improved a lot. She only ever went out of bounds once, about a year ago, when she gave herself a haircut to "make myself prettier".
Oh my goodness! I think Meagan and Evy would get along wonderfully! Evy loves scissors as well. I have allowed her to use her "baby scissors" which are really baby nail clippers- and even then it spells trouble. Funny!
Post a Comment