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Problem of the day

Our kids all have issues.

An online friend just today posted that her young daughter is having trouble handling death...a cat, heaven, God is mean, no more toys, etc..

A friend from real life has long known her child is "on the spectrum" but only recently found out where and finally has a more complete answer.

The point is that each kid comes with a unique set of difficulties of the day. Sometimes parenting is more problem-solver in a "rig something up with duct tape" kind of way.

Cole's current issue is that he doesn't know the meaning of the world gentle. He's not mean-spirited about his lack of physical restraint. He just plays hard. But it's brought a few bloody lips and head bumps for mom and dad. And a lot of crying as he pushes over his sister or smacks her in the face with a toy. So there's been a lot of time outs and tantrums lately. You try telling a 2 year old little boy to be quieter, gentler, and less enthusiastic. Just yesterday he stepped on a 2 day old new desk we'd gotten for him and cracked it in half.

Leda's problem is that she's found the dog bowl...and the air conditioner cord...and the actual dog...and that cups have liquid in them and they're fun to tip over. We call it a "reset" where we move her back to the middle of the room for alternative exploration. Such is our baby-proofing method. Don't get me wrong, we have outlet covers and close the bathroom door so she doesn't chew on the toilet and eat the tissue. But she may have eaten a few items that are a bit advanced for her. Proving, once again, that she's amazing...in my mind, at least. She's 9 months old eating pretzels and bagels.

No wonder she doesn't like the vile liquid spinach we've tried to give her. Who wants liquid squash? It begs the newfangled parenting question of if I wouldn't eat it, why am I trying to feed it to her?