Scratching my head about something............. I have a friend who I visit a couple times a year. She’s in her late 50s and sometimes keeps her almost 2 yr old grandson – who, from what I’ve seen, is very rambunctious and active. I’ve cared for toddlers, and I know they can be a handful. But what I notice specifically is the kid constantly runs back and forth, back and forth, from one room to another. Last week when I visited in addition to the running he had a ball about the size of a basketball that he was bouncing against the walls. (!!!) She NEVER says anything to him to make him settle down. It isn’t cute, and I suspect he behaves as he does because she allows him to. (For purposes of this discussion I’d rather not get into possible medical diagnoses….but if that was a factor, I think she would have said something.) I’ve never said anything to her about her grandson’s behavior. It's her home and her grandson, and she hasn't asked my advice. She occasionally visits me, but has never brought him. If she did, and if he started running and carrying on, I would tell him to stop. Aside from being noisy, he could fall, or knock something over and break it. As kids we never, ever, ran inside the house. It just wasn’t done. And I must say, I’ve seen friends and relatives tell their kids to stop running in the house, and the child obeys or is sent to their room or otherwise punished. Throwing a ball in the house? No way. Am I behind the times? Comments?
The way I see it, if the parents/grandparents turn a blind eye to bad behavior when kids are small, they will be dealing with much larger problems when that child is older. Not talking about the general energy all kids have, but when they are being destructive, and parents laugh at it. That's not the message you want to be sending.
I ran in the house anyway, whenever I thought I could get away with it. sometimes I did, more often I didn't. Kids have more energy than people realize sometimes. If they're cooped up with granny too long, they need to exercise imo. He could also be bored. Playing outside if possible may help. Or, it could be medical, that's a possibility.
Arlene, you are going to hate me for this but ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I move my kitchen table out and Bubba runs around and around it. Sometimes when he goes by me, I grab him and say, "Gottcha!" He screams with laughter. He also rides his tricycle around and around it. I have a long hallway and he rides up the hallway, back to the kitchen, around the table and back down the hallway. Obviously, he doesn't do all that when we have company. His dad did all that and he turned out OK.
Anyway.... I know of a situation where an unruly toddler was discharged - actually expelled - from several daycare centers. Ripping & running, bullying & fighting other kids, refusing to follow rules. His mother allowed him to control the household. No boundaries. Might be fine for her house but it doesn't cut it in the real world.
Although we had three floors, the house I grew up in didn't have any rooms or halls large enough to get up a good run in, so I can't say that I have done a lot of running in the house. We did run up and down the stairs, however. During the winter, when it was too cold or there was too much snow on the ground to run outdoors, I ran in the barn, particularly the hay mow, starting about halfway through the winter. In the beginning of the winter, both of our hay mows and the space in between were packed to the roof with hay bales. Once those began clearing out, though, we restacked the hay to build castles with stairs, towers, and several rooms, and we'd do a lot of running there. Without knowing this for a fact, I would expect that running in the house would be more easily tolerated by people living in the colder Northern parts of the country, since Southern kids could run outdoors. Kids have a lot of energy to expend and, whether it is because of weather or potentially dangerous neighborhoods, they can't always do so outside of the house.
I have a gal-friend that is just like you Shirley, and God bless you both She has more fun with her grandkids, and if I visit I join in, lol!! She posts on facebook all the time, photos of them building forts etc. I tell you, I envy her and those kids. They are going to have memories of her that will help them to raise their kids. I think too many children don't get the attention they need, and they may act out because of that. I'm not saying that is the case with your friend's grandson Arlene, just loved what Shirley does with Bubba
Well, I think it's never too soon to teach kids to respect others too. I am all for having fun with grandkids..but if I was having company..someone I see only twice a year..I'd have some more quiet activities..maybe plan a little light refreshment and let him plan and help. I had a very fun grandmother . She was a real hoot.
I'm all for having fun with kids, and I love toddlers. I used to rough house with nephew. But running and throwing a large ball at the living room wall while adults are trying to talk? No.
Our 2nd to the oldest son was the one with all the energy and ran around the house making loud noises and also once drove a trike down the stairs and hurt himself. Now he allows his daughter to do that without yelling at her to stop the way I did to him. Well, she's 9 now so I doubt she still does that but when she was younger she did. She'd run and the dogs would chase her and they were pretty noisy. They've turned out fine. Today it's the noise that would freak out my husband and I. Also we wouldn't be able to handle the ball bouncing in the house. But the running, if you are a tiny little kid, that's maybe ok. I can't say for sure as we haven't had any little kids in the house in many years. The grand kids we see a lot are in their 20s. I hope we don't have great grand kids for a long time to come.