The two-year-old looked up at me
as I dragged him away from the DVD player. He wasn’t happy. “Grandma No-No,” he grumbled. I giggled at his
pronouncement, but I could see why I had earned that moniker.
His
intelligence, curiosity, and fearlessness – all good traits – kept me on my
toes.
He
wanted to learn the how and the why of everything, but had to be redirected
constantly. If it was within his reach,
he inspected it to learn its purpose. The
electrical socket and the DVD cabinet called to him only because it got a huge
reaction from the adults. He saw no difference between his Super Hero toys and
the expensive knick knacks on the coffee table. If it made a noise, tore at the
mere touch, or bounced, it was his.
He soon
learned that his height kept him from reaching things grownups didn’t want him
to have, so he taught himself to climb. I watched as he pulled cushions off
couches or dragged chairs into position so he could mountain climb from one to
the other. I let him do it only once so that I could prevent it from happening
again. Just as he reached his prize, I plucked him away. His anger soon appeased if I distracted him
with the hundreds of books and toys he owned.
When his
circle of discovery expanded into other rooms, I followed him. I emptied the bottom
cabinets in the kitchen and left only the pots, pans, and plastic ware he could
turn into drums, hats, and building blocks. The bathroom door remained closed
at all times for obvious reasons, but to make up for limiting his exploration of
the terrain, I sat for hours on the floor with him playing with his toys and
reading to him.
My list
of no-nos changed as he grew. No food
outside of the kitchen since milk or juice bottles might spill on the sofa or
the carpet, and it took only once for him to catapult off his bed for me to
rule on “no, no more jumping on the bed.”
I wasn’t trying to be a Mrs. Trunchbull. My no-nos were because I loved
this fearless, little boy, and I worried about his safety. I wanted to encourage his curiosity and intelligence,
but I was also willing to gain a no-no reputation to ensure he got to share it
with the world.
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