We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004 - Completed Sept 17
21st Century Baby Redux
Jack's current favorite!
Baby Faces by Margaret Miller
Jack loves computers. And I do mean he really, really LOVES computers.
Both Mum and Dad spend a lot of time on computers, so he learns from us that computers are extremely interesting.He recognizes the sounds each of the computers make as it starts up and shuts down. Mum is on Windows and Dad is on Mac so the two computers look and sound quite different.
He will hear a computer boot from the other end of the apartment, and crawl �full-tilt-boogie� to get to it.
We will often leave a computer online and running while we do other things. For the most part, Jack will amuse himself elsewhere, though he has begun to meddle with the Mac constantly, so it is rarely left running un-attended these days.
He knows the sounds each computer makes when mail comes in or when an instant message appears, if we are not close by, he will trek all the way to the back of the flat to tell us about it.
But mainly, Jack loves to use the computer.
He has his own software, of course. And he plays with that at every opportunity. But never let it be said that Jack let a little thing like parental cooperation stand in his way! Playing software games is cool, but making alert boxes and error messages appear is by far the best fun to be had on a computer!! Especially when Dad�s computer reads them back to you!!
Nothing is safe. Jack has been known to close down a file between parental key-strokes, turn on computers that had been left resting quietly, and even dial up the Internet!
Amongst Jack�s list of computer skills:
Dragging and dropping windows just outside the viewable area of the screen (both platforms)
Renaming folders on the Mac desktop.
Adding improbable formulae to Dad�s spreadsheets.
Making the System Font on the Mac display in bold letters (I still don�t know how he did that)
Sending unfinished e-mail (Windows)
Shutting down the Mac
Crashing Windows
Needless to say, the computers will not be left un-attended in the future, and his meddling will be curtailed over time as well.
Yeah�Jack REALLY loves computers!
Seen Elsewhere
If raising kids is an interest of yours, I think you'll enjoy checking out Part One and Part Two of Catawumpus's posts on behavior management of children. A few commenters - including a teacher - have already mentioned that these posts have changed the way they deal with so-called "bad" behavior.
