Backpack Invention

Among the treasures John has found while half-unpacked boxes are lying about is my old bicycle helmet. This morning, he successfully used it as a backpack of sorts!

As you can see, he was playing on the stairs and the turtle shell-like backpack struck me as a danger hazard, so I removed him to another area after taking these photos. Then I took away the helmet entirely because the inside black padding is disintegrating with age, leaving a patina of black fuzz all over the house. It was fun while it lasted.

I did an interesting experiment yesterday by not letting John watch television. Normally he is restricted to two TV-periods per day (after breakfast, after afternoon nap), which I think is pretty heroic of us. But his behavior has been particularly challenging and toddler-like lately and I wonder if one aspect is television, which is associated with so many difficulties, even when the shows are "wholesome." The flashing lights, the extremely short attention spans fostered--television in babies and youth is even being questioned as an environmental trigger of autism in predisposed children. (In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two years old be allowed to watch no TV whatsoever!) All my life, I can't help but to have noticed that families which are TV-free raise quiet, peaceful, inventive children. So yesterday, off went the TV, which meant I had to find more ways to involve John in what I was doing. I let him hand me clean dishes from the dishwasher for me to put away, clean out the lint trap when I changed laundry, be involved while I watered and trimmed the house plants, and water the rose bushes while I did yard work. Overall, it was an incredibly peaceful day with a marked improvement in John's behavior. I did not end the day feeling like I'd been in a war zone. In full disclosure, it was also a really long day for me! Chris was out of town and I got none of the "John breaks" I normally get by having the TV on for periods. Nonetheless, interesting results, so I think we will continue to experiment.

Below is a photo I took a few days ago of John watching television. When the TV is off, I can't suppress his boundless energy long enough for him to sit still for five minutes, but when the TV is on, he'll often lie motionless and glazed, totally ignoring me, for 30-60 minutes. It's actually quite disconcerting!