A blog about Parenting and Family Life.
Real Name: Heather Ijames Member Since: April 11, 2008 Last Signed In: November 30, 2008 Profile Views: 507 Blog Views: 1515 He's Won Half the Battle Grasping at Metaphors Get Your Fangs Out, It's Fall Ball! Mom's Night Out First Day Funny It's Not a Dare The Barcelona Chronicles - Part III The Barcelona Chronicles - Part II The Barcelona Chronicles - Part I April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 . 
RSS 2.0    |
|
|
Boy v. Dog
This will, undoubtedly, be the first in a series of Boy vs. Dog pieces as my four year old has a penchant for terrorizing my two Boston Terriers. Let’s just start with the kicking. Ethan will be walking peacefully down the hall when he stops suddenly in front of one of the dogs. He smiles, then swings his right leg back, and then kicks the dog. Yes, yes, I know…why does he kick the dog? My only guess thus far is it’s because he’s a boy. He truly loves those dogs, but I’m not sure he has quite grasped the concept that the dogs are more alive than his toys. That they feel pain, fear, and as he no doubt is soon to experience, biting rage, has not really sunk in with him. I recall that my younger brother, when he was a child, had an experience with a cat and a teeter-totter. As he put it, he wanted to see how far kitty could go up before it came down crash boom. I also have two nephews who have always had a gritty determination to aim a pellet gun just right at a neighborhood animal’s tushy. Being that as it may, I still don’t want to resolve myself in accepting this testosterone induced cruelty. I had to come up with a way to help Ethan understand why it’s not okay to kick the dogs. Thus, I created a personal web page just for Ethan that has a link to an organization I have concocted for illustrative purposes. Here are the contents of such page: DOG KICKERS ANONYMOUS Our Purpose:
We here at DKA-Male Toddler Division are committed to helping male toddlers, between the ages of two and four years old, understand that household and neighborhood dogs are not simply moving toys void of feelings of pain and neglect, but are wonderful companions who can enhance the life of any boy able to throw a ball or stick. Background:
Did you know that almost 47% of all canine kickers in this world are made up of male toddlers? (Though high, this number is significantly less than the percentage of male toddlers who pull cats' tails, rounding out at about 84%. You can view the Cat Tail Pullers Anonymous website at your leisure but the contents of that site consists only of the following two sentences "Go ahead and pull their tails. They'll never like you anyway.") Testimonial
Ethan from Bakersfield, Ca.
"My mom was always yacking away that I wasn't supposed to kick the dogs. I never understood why because it's not like the dogs jumped up and told me to stop it. They just took it and went to hide in a corner. Then, one day, my mom got behind my dog and lifted him up in front of her face and my dog miraculously started to talk to me. He said in a high pitched squeaky voice, "Ethan, why do you kick me? It hurts. It makes me sad." That's when I realized it; dogs are friends, not toys. * * *
There is also a picture of our younger terrier on the web page, with her ears folded back in shame, to constantly remind Ethan that she doesn’t like to be kicked. And, most of the time, I merely need to show Ethan the picture and read the paragraphs on the page and he lightens up on the dogs. But the comprehension of all the cause and effect still eludes his young mind. “Mommy,” he starts, “why do the dogs run and hide from me when I come around the corner?” He asks.
“They don’t like you.” I reply matter of fact.
“Should I hit them to get them to notice me?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Not with my hands?”
“Nope.”
“How about my drumsticks?” He asks with a smile.
“Not with anything.”
“Including my feet?”
And off we go to the website again while the dogs hide.
4 comments from 4 users
1
posted by
Christina
on Apr 14, 2008 at 09:41 PM
He truly loves those dogs, but I’m not sure he has quite grasped the concept that the dogs are more alive than his toys. That they feel pain, fear, and as he no doubt is soon to experience, biting rage, has not really sunk in with him.
These 2 sentences describe very well sometimes how my older two children treat Mitchell... TERRIBLE I know.. but they act as if he's some old rag doll! posted by
bcolaw
on Apr 14, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Boys do the strangest thing. I have a friend who had three daughters. She then had a son. She called one day (because I had two boys at the time) and asked me why I never told her how hard boys were. These were the things she was referring to - the mischief they get into for some completely unknown reason. Of course, at the time, I had only boys, and did not realize that girls did NOT do the same things generally. This generalization does not, however, apply to a daughter who has three older brothers. Nope - she's just as likely to kick a dog, or whatever, as her brothers!!!
posted by
Jason
on Apr 15, 2008 at 04:31 PM
Heh. We bought this book for our Pumpkin back when she was terrorizing our dog, Waldo (who is a bassett hound/golden retriever mix, if you can picture that): Tails Are Not For Pulling. (The other books in the series are nice too.) Here are a couple old posts from my blog about how she used to "play" with and abuse poor Waldo. Fortunately, she did grow out of the not-nice behavior towards him. (Though she still tries to play with him like he's a human, but I have to remind her that he doesn't have hands and isn't gonna play duck-duck-goose with her either.) posted by
Megan
on Apr 15, 2008 at 10:10 PM
Interesting stats on dog kickers. I wonder if they are the same for kitty chasers. All animals are considered toys to a tot and do lack the pleasure a real toy gives the child (boy toddler) of pain and abuse.
1
|