the strange, the bizarre, and the down right weird (aka: Living with a toddler)

Posted on February 28, 2008

I understand that all toddlers are a little odd now and then. I am sure this comes from their limited experience and understanding of the world around them. I also understand that the world can be a large and scary place, and a lot of their behavior stems from trying to add a little order and control in their lives. But some of the things Chloe does, no matter what the reasons, are just downright weird!

Here’s a few of my faves:

• Chloe likes to watch the same episodes of “Little Einsteins” over and over and over. The two she rotates between are: Annie’s Solo Mission (The rest of the characters get caught in a super bubble and Annie has to rescue them) and Dragon Kite (the characters help a little Chinese dragon kite find other kites for a dragon kite parade on the Great Wall of China.) I can’t really say too much…I have now watched Transformers 6 times.
• She rotates between her toys, but she is VERY SPECIFIC about how she plays with each one. She has a collection of figurines that are story book characters, the three little pigs, goldilocks and the three bears, billy goats guff…etc. When I first got them out for her, she would only play with Golidlocks and a pink Ogre looking dude (I have to admit I am not sure what story he comes from.) She would pull those two out and wander around the house with them. Now, she will only play with two out of the three goats, and usually the goats are either running back and forth on our entertainment center, or back and forth over the bottom stair. She also has these “Little People” from two sets, one set is a blonde and a brunette girl driving a car that pulls a camper, and the other is a blond girl that drives a moped with a side car. She kicks the brunette character out of the car, and will only drive around with the two blond girls. I don’t know what the brunette girl did to offend her, but it must have been terrible. These are just a couple of examples, I could go on and on and on.
• I don’t know what to call this other than she has a tactile sensitivity. There are certain things she just WILL NOT touch. Shaving cream, finger paints, cotton balls, and sand are some of the ones I have run across. In her art class, all the other kids are up to their elbows in finger paints, I am lucky if Chloe will put one finger into the paints. And I have absolutely no idea what her phobia is with cotton balls, but she absolutely refuses to touch them. Oh, and I have to mention the smock issue, she will not wear a paint smock. For a child who loves to play dress up, there must be something about the texture or the feel of the smock, because she throws a fit if I even have it close to her.
• Today she found a button on the floor (I think it came from one of John’s work shirts.) She carried that button in her hand almost all day. The few times she did put it down, when she realized she wasn’t holding it, she would look around worriedly saying, “Button, where go?”
• Not only does she not like it when I trim her toenails and finger nails, she also freaks out when I trim mine. I’m not kidding, today I was trimming my toenails in the bathroom, and she was crying, “No, mommy’s foot, mommy’s foot, no!” And she didn’t stop until I put the clippers away in the drawer. (Which reminds me, I need to go finish trimming my nails.)

I really could go on and on. I have an adorable, but odd, child.