Life Under Six and Six

Terrible Twos?!?!?!  Are you kidding.  At two, Collin and Cayla were funny, cute, inquisitive, silly, and angelic.  Ummm . . . the sixes - that's another story.  Although Collin is doing great and loving kindergarten, he had some less-than-desirable behaviors last September.  I think his teacher described them as "resistant".  Anyway, she gave me this book to read:

And, of course, it has sat on my desk, collecting dust for 3 months. But, I picked it up yesterday, and it is spot on (if you can ignore the overt sexism - there's a lot of dad at work all day/ mom runs the b-day party stuff). It doesn't offer any advice, it just describes 6-year-olds. And, of course, once you know that your 6-year-olds' obnoxious behavior is normal, it's much easier to deal with. Here's some selected excerpts (from pages 23-25):

"Your Six-year-old at the table is something else again. And we might as well discuss his table manners becausue these are what bugs parents the most. Knowing about what to expect won't necessarily change the behavior, but it may make you less angry about it.

Don't be surprised when your Six-year-old stuffs his mouth, talks with his mouth full, grabs for food, knocks over his milk, dribbles, kicks the chair leg, teeters back in his chair, and, all too often even falls off his chair. . . . .

In addition to his other midemeanors he tends to eat very slowly. And he often fights with his siblings if there are any around. Also, he tends to refuse to use his napkin, which he actually needs very much. . . . .

Self-help is not as good as many parents hope. Certainly Six cannot yet cut his meat, and sometimes he may even regress to the point of giving up his spoon or fork and eating with his fingers. Some even eat mashed potatoes with their fingers. A fork may be used willingly if food is of a kind which can be speared."

If this book did not have a copyright date of 1979, I would swear that the authors had secretly observed dinnertime at our house for the past few months. The only thing they missed is squirting a huge glob of ketchup on one's plate, laughing heartily at the fart sound it makes, and then preceding to lick the glob off one's plate with one's tongue, completely bypassing the fries it was intended for.

I think I may abandon the names, Cayla and Collin, and start calling my kids, Six and Six.