Leah has a peculiar desire to test the laws of gravity. At dinnertime. This has resulted in a couple of falls from her chair onto our tile floor. Usually she is fine, and once in awhile gets dinged enough to cry. Nonetheless, I am NOT a big fan of preschoolers randomly falling from their chairs while eating (or coloring, for that matter.)
Usually I sit across the table from her, reminding her to sit on her chair instead of leaning off of it like it's merely a suggested perch, or a bench about 6 inches wide.
Today at lunch, I sat next to the child. We had this conversation.
Me: Please sit ON YOUR CHAIR!
Leah: Whyyy?
Me: So you don't FALL ONTO THE FLOOR.
Leah: I don't get hu-urrt!
Me: But I don't like it! It scares me to see you just all of a sudden fall like that!
Leah: I'm holding on the table! And sometimes, when I put my leg over the side, my foot touches the floor so I CAN'T fall!
Here, Daddy decides to back me up, and has a short exchange with her about how people usually don't just fall off their chairs. What is hilarious to me about this whole thing, is that it would appear that we are trying to deprive her of some great source of fun - namely, crashing to the floor and getting a concussion. We are SO MEAN.
After lunch, as I'm clearing the table, I observe to Aaron that one of the worst things about her leaning habit is that it spreads a trail of dinner debris in about a 3 foot circumference - on the table, her chair, the floor...
On reflection, it appears that I may have the answer to this situation - ban reading materials at the table. It has become our habit to read the paper or a magazine while eating, and if we comment on an article, invariably the kids want to see the accompanying photo, even if there is none. This often involves leaning and standing on seats (only for the kids, usually). Hmm. Sounds like an experiment is in order.
Although I do have to explain that Leah seems drawn to a person sitting next to her as a magnet is to the fridge. Restaurant booths are the worst - she practically ends up in my lap. Some would call it endearing, or sweet. I call it claustrophobic.
Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
2 years ago
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5 comments:
While having an English teacher ban reading at the dinner table (where is that old copy of _Farenheit 451_?) may be a solution, reading the first section of the post with "Aaron" substituted for "Leah" and "ladder" for "chair" suggests that there may be a genetic factor. The apple may not be falling far from the tree ;-)
My youngest son does have a bad habit of randomly falling. Off of anything. Including nothing. He's kind of ditzy and he'll just be walking and slap! I hear the sound of his body hitting the floor. 2 seconds later, he's up and running. Doesn't faze him at all, but it is disconcerting for me, nonetheless.
I could really go for some Leah velco right about now...
Ironicly, our cat had a bad chair/gravity incident last night. He had fallen asleep on the top of the back of a rocking chair while my wife was watching TV. When she got up, the chair shifted and the cat fell.
Fortunately, Aaron hasn't actually fallen OFF of anything...although he certainly tests gravity.
Nydam - The Leah velcro sometimes comes with no-warning stink. Just lettin' you know.
Noel - Your cat is hilarious. Garfield today (Sat) kind of sounds like a similar situation.
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