Saturday, April 17, 2010

Walking Through a Mine Field

The other day as I tended to the care of Dylan and Jade, I walked into their bedroom to see what was going on. They had been playing in there a while. As usual there were toys every where. So I decided it was time to clean up the room. They were not interested in helping. Snacks were their primary concern. So we went to the kitchen to find suitable snacks for them. While they ate I went back into the bedroom to survey the damage.

As I stepped back into this room I was startled to hear a noise. The tv was on but that is not from where the noise came. Apparently in my quest to enter the lair of the children I had stepped on a toy. In the process it had decided to do what toys do best, make enough noise to really irritate any adult within ear-shot. That is when I thought "walking around in this room is like walking into a mine field". Toys littered the floor, the beds and spilled out of the toy box which was in the closet. There are all sorts of dolls, guns, cars and other toys which when prompted by some sort of activity make all sorts of noise. Usually these are in the hands of the small children when they do this. But sometimes they lie in wait for an unsuspecting adult to bump into, step on, or pick up. It is then that all Hell breaks loose. A "laser gun" will suddenly emit a red beam of light along with a "Star Wars" type of sound which makes me wonder what it would be like to use such a weapon in real life. Or a battery operated race car will take off running, or a least the wheels will spin wildly. Jimmy Johnson's car should have such power! Or worse yet an especially annoying doll will lament "I don't feel so good".

Of course when trying to clean up this room, the toys all have to start the noise at the same time. But finding the toys can be a problem. The floor is littered with toys. Toys spill out of the toy box at will or hang precariously at the edge. Every time a toy from the floor is tossed into the box another jumps out and poses a problem for any one near. Of course none of these toys seem to have an off switch either. At times, walking into or around the room really can be an assault on the ears, feet or ankles. There should be hazard labels on the door. "Caution, enter at your own risk". I don't know how many times I have tripped on some toy that was lying peacefully quiet until I stepped on it. And just wait till the kids decide to either look for a particular toy or start throwing toys at each other.

I think I may have to request "Hazardous Duty Pay". After all walking into a child's room or attempting to clean it is dangerous work. You just never know if an Iron-Man mask is going to start giving orders, or a remote controlled car makes a run for it.And don't forget the tiny metal cars that become missiles when launched by a four year old. Mine fields do exist, especially in kids' rooms.

4 comments:

quilly said...

I would suggest picking up all of the toys that they refuse to put away and putting them away out of sight, then rtheir room would become a whole different kind of "mine" field.

LordLuvU said...

I had a simular problem when I was a daycare teacher. The kids would pick up all right, but inevitably, some annoying little toy would start sounding off, usually, it was an ambulance or police car. After about 5 to ten minutes, I would have to start looking for it, or I would lose my mind! The funny thing is, my 4 yr olds never seemed to be bothered by it; selective hearing I guess. One time, however, I searched and searched forever, looking in all the usual places, (under shelves, buried under mounds of nonoffending cars, etc), when I heard a giggle. I turned around, and saw some of my children looking at one of the "cubbies". Apparently, one of the parents thought it would a good idea to send this childs toy ambulance so he could 'show it to his friends'. I ask the child if I could turn it off, to save the batteries of course. He said it had no off switch. "Great" I thought! I told the little boy that I need to set the toy aside to fix it. He agreed, and I put in a closet, and buried it beneath some old newspapers. I decided not to take the batteries out because I thought the batteries were dying anyway. So if the toy dies in peace without me replacing the batteries, and I sent it home, maybe just maybe the parents would get the hint and keep the toy at home. I knew the parents very well, and when the father picked up his son, I took the ambulance out of its hiding space and said "nice try, dad". He sheepishly smiled and said be and his wife needed a break from the beeps and sirens of their sons favorite toy. I told him, "well at least the batteries are dying, maybe he'll forget about it. The father looked at me rather forelorn, then told me that the batteries had been "dying" for over a month now... with no end in sight. I asked them why they just didn't take the batteries out. They couldn't, he said, because the boy literally never put it down other than to go to the bathroom and eat. He slept with it, brushed his teeth with it, etc. I asked the father who bought it, and he said his brother, who coincidentally, had no children of his own. I then asked that if he would ever have children, it would be a great idea for the boys father to buy the most loud and annoying toy that they could find. He told me, not to worry, and that he would get what's coming to him....

Unfortunately, I never found out of the threat was followed through or not, but I believe it was.

http://lordismerciful.blogspot.com

LordLuvU said...
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LordLuvU said...
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