The last two days I had the opportunity to stay at home with Baby Boy while Mom went on a working interview. I loved the opportunity to hangout with him. Baby Boy road around the backyard in his new car, a sporty red coupe. We also toured some new blocks in the neighbored. He enjoyed his enlarged view from his wagon. His stroller was nice, but it'd didn't offer the full 360 degree view of the Radio Flyer. We also got to dig around in the sandbox.
Yesterday was Baby Boy's second adventure into the sandbox. He didn't much care for the feel of the sand the first time. He put his hands down into the sand once and then left them hanging in the air the rest of the time. Yesterday, he really dug in. His favorite game involved destroying the sand sculptures I made. When he finally got bored of destroying, what I believe to be, really great art work, he turned to eating the sand. Having experienced a mouthful or two of sand I feel confident in saying that it is no delicacy and felt it was my place to save him from a rather unpleasant sensation. So, Baby Boy heard, "No, it's yucky" several times and the various instruments he used to bring the sand to his mouth were diverted by a well intentioned hand.
Baby Boy continued to try to eat it. I figured, "No, it's yucky" held little meaning to him. So, being the wise Dad that I am, I gave him another, "No, it's yucky" and let him put the sand to his mouth. Certainly "yucky" was going to move from an abstract concept to something more concrete. Certainly, Baby Boy's face reflected the rather distasteful treat, but did it stop him? No, he tried and tried again. He had to try the sand that was on his red shovel and then again on his yellow shovel and the yellow rake and finally on his hands before he was certain that sand wasn't about to taste any better.
Did he learn what yucky means? That is yet to be determined. If he is anything like me, he will be stubborn and try again. When the weather once again turns warm, we will see. The real importance of eating sand was the lesson Dad learned. Had Mom been out there with Baby Boy she would have saved him from a mouthful of sand and with enough persistence he would most likely begin to learn "no", but he never would have an learned "yucky." That is what Dad is for, Dad sets back and lets the sand get eaten and is there to say, "That is what 'yucky' means, my son."
Yesterday was Baby Boy's second adventure into the sandbox. He didn't much care for the feel of the sand the first time. He put his hands down into the sand once and then left them hanging in the air the rest of the time. Yesterday, he really dug in. His favorite game involved destroying the sand sculptures I made. When he finally got bored of destroying, what I believe to be, really great art work, he turned to eating the sand. Having experienced a mouthful or two of sand I feel confident in saying that it is no delicacy and felt it was my place to save him from a rather unpleasant sensation. So, Baby Boy heard, "No, it's yucky" several times and the various instruments he used to bring the sand to his mouth were diverted by a well intentioned hand.
Baby Boy continued to try to eat it. I figured, "No, it's yucky" held little meaning to him. So, being the wise Dad that I am, I gave him another, "No, it's yucky" and let him put the sand to his mouth. Certainly "yucky" was going to move from an abstract concept to something more concrete. Certainly, Baby Boy's face reflected the rather distasteful treat, but did it stop him? No, he tried and tried again. He had to try the sand that was on his red shovel and then again on his yellow shovel and the yellow rake and finally on his hands before he was certain that sand wasn't about to taste any better.
Did he learn what yucky means? That is yet to be determined. If he is anything like me, he will be stubborn and try again. When the weather once again turns warm, we will see. The real importance of eating sand was the lesson Dad learned. Had Mom been out there with Baby Boy she would have saved him from a mouthful of sand and with enough persistence he would most likely begin to learn "no", but he never would have an learned "yucky." That is what Dad is for, Dad sets back and lets the sand get eaten and is there to say, "That is what 'yucky' means, my son."
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