PLease tell me this is a phase...

[deborah_r]

Kai's latest thing is to pull stuff off of shelves, out of comtainers, etc. never to put anything back in. There is a stack of magazines on one bookshelf and he pulls them all off one by one. He just got done pulling all linens off his changing table shelves. Now he is in the kitchen pulling all of my dishrags onto the floor (they are stacked on a low shelf, since they were in the 'not sharp, not breakable ' category).

Why can't he play with his toys???

[McQ]

I'd love to tell you but...I've heard they don't get into putting things back until 15 months or so. Sorry!

Right now Declan loves to pull the nicely stacked piles of laundry into the floor, magazines off the shelf, all my socks out of my drawer. You name it, it's every where.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[egoldber]

I hate to tell you this, but your stuff and household stuff are FAR more interesting than any toy you can buy. You can try to fight it, or you can realize that him playing in the linens can buy you 30 minutes to do something else!

And, um, I'm still waiting for that "putting things back" phase! She does enjoy "cleaning up", but its much more active on my part than hers! :)

[boys2enough]

Same here, just want to let you know that you are definitely not alone. Pots and pans, measuring cups, plastic spoons, etc. I actually left 2 cabinets unlocked for Gabriel to pull out the pots and pans and plastic containers to his heart content: only way I could cook dinners. His big brother was the same around this age.

According to the "bible" "What to expect for the toddler years," we "are supposed to" take this opportunity and teach them at this time to put stuff away, that "cleaning up" is a very important habit to master at this young age... That is why I stopped reading that book 5 years ago when DS1 was a toddler! lol.

I am a neat freak, but with these 2 boys I've learned to ignore the mess and clean up after they go to bed. DH does say, "Why bother picking up? They are just going to make a mess again tomorrow!" ARGH! Men!

p.s. My 6 yo's middle name is Kai. :) We really really love that name and had a hard time coming up with something just as cool for Gabriel (15 mo).

[boys2enough]

sorry double post

[boys2enough]

sigh...

[houseof3boys]

I'm no expert, but I'm the same boat these days. I gave in and just cleaned out a drawer and put "new toys" in it...a plastic cooking spoon, stained kitchen towels, an empty vitamin container, a small tupperware with pasta in it so he can shake it, an empty yogurt container with a lid for banging the spoon on it and a metal beater thingy since he loves the cold metal against his gums. Now, all I do for cleanup is just dump all of that Ryan junk back in the same drawer so it only takes me 20 seconds of cleanup!

He is muuuuuch happier than me telling him no since the bottom drawers are fair game for him (not dangerous). He goes right to his drawer now and it makes life easier for both of us.

[houseof3boys]

:)

[amp]

Same here. DH and I often wonder aloud, "Why do we even buy him toys? Should we just give them away?"

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

You are describing our situation to a "T" :)...
EVERYTHING gets touched and pulled out with the most attentive look, a true mission...
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[Jenmv]

This is why my house always looks like a disaster zone. I just give up after awhile of picking things up constantly, although I'll admitt that the sight of DD bent over in the laundry basket flinging articles of clothing out behind her one at a time with abandon cracks me up. I mean she really flings stuff with force.

[Momof3Labs]

A phase, yes. A very, very long phase, yes...

[lukkykatt]

Lori is right. It is a LOOOOONNNG phase. And in our house it is followed by the let-me-take-this-apart-and-see-how-it-works phase.

So right now, I have one in destructo mode and one taking things apart. You should see my house.