[VanessaS]

My children take things apart. According to all of the "You know your child is gifted" lists that is a sign that they are as smart as bricks. But that's because they don't realize how EXTREME they are. They take everything that they can get their hands on completely apart. Down to the last atom. Toys, electronic equipment (for safety's sake, we've hidden the screwdrivers), food, newspapers, and furniture. Yes, you've read that right. All furniture gets taken apart, piece by piece, screw by screw. Until it looks like it just arrived fresh from IKEA. I put them to bed (they share a room) and came in an hour later to find the light on, the kids naked (they take their clothes apart, too), and their beds in pieces all over the floor. They'd even managed to take apart the mattress and pillow covers. And I've read that this can be a sign of intelligence if the children manage to put the things back together and use them properly after that. But my children never put anything back together. Instead, they examine the parts and use them for a completely different purpose than they are intended. Sometimes for really bizarre things and sometimes really cute. My DD was busy stuffing the mattress cover with LEGOs and my DS was using the bed's screws as earrings (aagh!). Needless to say, it's impossible to baby-proof anything.

As for using things properly, we're also a no-show. We didn't think my DD would ever learn to puzzle because whenever we gave her one she would promptly: sit down, take off her socks, dump out the pieces, carefully place one between each set of toes, and walk around on her heels, giggling hysterically. It took over 20 months for her to realize what one is SUPPOSED to do with puzzles and another 2 months before she realized -- Woah! -- there are pictures on the puzzles. All you have to do is align the pictures by color and the puzzle is really easy to do! A stroke of genius. Within a week she went from 9-piece to 24-piece puzzles and I think she's ready for the 48-piece ones soon.

Oh, come on. We're not the only ones, are we?!! Anyone? ... Please?

 

[eepster]

First I just need to get this out...

:

k I'll stop

:

Many of those site seem to bias towards recognizing the more common AS gifted learner and ignore the less common VS learners. I have found that some AS thinkers have a hard time seeing the abilities of VS thinkers, and since there are more AS thinkers than VS thinkers much of education is geared towards them in general.

 

[VanessaS]

Sad, but true. Although I don't really worry about school since we're homeschooling. I'm sure the schools are greatfull...

I think my children see the whole world as a bunch of tinkertoys.

 

[Casha'sMommy]

Oh yes, me too...

Just wanted to let you know you're not alone mama!

I took the advice of another mama here when chatting about my dd being a complete nut and out of control lately. She suggested giving dd some beans to play with.
WELL! Let me tell you! Totally awesome time.
We had lentils in the pantry so that's what she got to play with. I have to tell you, lentils feel amazing when you run them through your hands and fingers. DD "played beans" for over an hour. She just poured them from cup to cup and through funnels, etc.
I will caution though. It's a bit messy as most of the lentils did end up on the floor. It's a small price to pay for peace and quiet and the rest of my house not being taken apart. LOL I actually got to read a book! That's right, I read a book while she was awake!

:

 

[VanessaS]

Congratulations! I can only read when they're working on a puzzle or some LEGO project. Otherwise, I have to be vigilant to protect the house. My DD is now standing next to me unscrewing our floor lamp. I'll have to stop her before she removes the CFL bulbs. But she's working on the switches now and they take a while.

Oh, yes! The beans are great for those really desperate moments. I'd forgotten about that.
And it's easier in one way now that there are two of them. On the one hand, they play together. On the other hand, they work as a team to destroy my house.

 

[jilly]

Yeah, we have went through three of those wooden Ikea shoe racks and one metal one in the last 4 years. All dismantled. Same with those folding wood laundry baskets. All gone. All in little wood pieces used to build things in the sandbox or be carried around the house and used in various pretend play scenarios. Now we use plastic laundry baskets (all they can do is dump the laundry and steal the basket) and shoe mats (which regularly get turned upside down). We just don't buy anything now that is not virtually indestructible.

I remember at the age when they're supposed to like shape sorters, I got my ds1 the classic Fisher Price shape sorter. I took all the pieces out and showed him how to put one of each shape block in. He stared at me for a moment like I was an idiot, took the lid off, and put all the blocks back inside.

I think the worst of it is that when people come to your house they don't understand why there is no lid on the toy box (also taken apart), the cushions are off the couch, shoes are scattered everywhere, and there are little bits of sticks, blocks, clothing, fabric and paper scraps . . . etc, etc, etc ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE. It drives dh crazy.

What does VS and AS stand for?

 

[VanessaS]

Aren't VS kids great? I just cracked up reading these.

The term visual-spatial (VS for short) and audio-sequential come from Linda Silverman's book "Upside-down Brilliance" and is referenced on her website.

My DH is on his way out. My kids were just doing laundry-basket races down the hallway (DD sits in it and DS pushes) and squealing hysterically. He's off to his company's Christmas party and he couldn't help note, "Hey, it's going to be great. I'm going to be surrounded by 200 people and I'll finally be able to hear myself speak."

But, seriously, never a boring moment here.

 

[eilonwy]

This is why I don't have a sewing machine anymore. It's also why the kids don't have their own beds, and why I go to open drawers and the knobs/handles fall off.. and then the entire drawer falls out... and why sitting at the kitchen table is literally hit or miss... Yeah. I know those kids.

 

[Casha'sMommy]

OMG jilly!
The shape sorter story sounds so much like my dd! LOL
She never did play with that darn shape sorter.

 

[VanessaS]

Quote:

I have found that some AS thinkers have a hard time seeing the abilities of VS thinkers

Oh, yes. That's one of my pet peeves. It's a very rare adult that recognizes that my wild monkey children aren't actually doing random things. All of their activities are well-planned and purposeful. It looks like chaos, but it's all completely logical. To the untrained eye, it seems like my children are just running around, creating havoc, but they are actually absolutely fascinating to watch. I have trouble playing with them (DH doesn't because he's just like them) because I can't follow their train of thought. They think I'm so square and are always grateful when Daddy's home to help them with one of their projects. Last night my DS and DH used LEGOs to build a Sorry boardgame and used LEGO men as the pieces. Where do they come up with this stuff?!! Give me LEGOs and I build a house. But only if I'm feeling particularly creative...

 

[VanessaS]

Quote:

why I go to open drawers and the knobs/handles fall off.. and then the entire drawer falls out...

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I was just laughing at your comment and then I realized: my kids must be doing that too! I'm constantly walking around the house screwing the handles back onto things and I was joking with my husband yesterday that we must have a poltergeist who comes at night to loosen the screws again. But, you know what: it's my kids!

: They are soooo sneaky! Well, at least that mystery has been solved.

Quote:

sitting at the kitchen table is literally hit or miss

Oh, yes.

My children completely dissect the food and build towers and things out of it. My mother complains, "It's bad enough that they play with their food. But do they have to be creative with it?!"

And I always find food stuffed into the crevices of the dining room furniture. Yuck.

 

[eepster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilly What does VS and AS stand for?

VS: visual/spacial
AS: audio/sequential

 

[Casha'sMommy]

Lately, my dd has been crazy, like out of control crazy. We've determined that she is nearly always overstimulated. Now I'm wondering how many of you saw this when your older kids were 2-ish??

 

[VanessaS]

: Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. My oldest is finally mellowing out a bit but my little one is in the thick of things and climbing the walls.

You know the phrase "The lights are on but nobody's home." to denote someone who's not very bright? Well with my children it's more like "The lights are on and where is the f$%#in off switch? Darn it! It was here somewhere!" They don't fall asleep at night, they just pass out.

I think it's all of the intellectual stimulation that makes them so wild. My DS is calming down now because he's spending more time doing "working stuff" like worksheets, board games, arts and crafts, etc.

 

[earthmama369]

Oh my goodness. This was my dh as a child. Still is, but he channels it better now. I'm the square who asks our children to please consider my sanity and not take apart the things I consider essential to daily living -- bed, couch, table, etc. DH helps them channel their energies by doing "Break Time" with them. Break Time doesn't mean chill out in our house. It means he brings home some 99-cent electronic gadget from Goodwill and they sit around the kitchen table and dismantle it, then see if they can put it back together again (or turn it into something else). Two nights ago it was a travel-size Lite Brite. (They actually fixed it so it works better now!) Last night it was a mini keyboard. They got a neat lesson in how circuits work, rerouted some functions, and now have a modded electronic "guitar."

 

[VanessaS]

That is too cool! Your DH sounds just like mine. Thank goodness, for them, huh?

I'll never forget the time, when Becky was about 6 weeks old and we went to my aunt's house for dinner. She really wanted to hold DD during the meal (What a doll! How adorable! I think she's smiling at me!) and I reluctantly gave her over with the warning, "Be careful, she's fast." My aunt blew me off with a waved hand and a, "Yes, yes. They're all very curious. I can deal with babies. No problem..." As she was sitting down, my DD leaned over and grabbed the plate and dropped it off the table. My aunt was so shocked. "She IS fast."
When we sit down to eat, everything is on one side of the table and all around Becky is this big expanse of nothingness. It looks really funny.

And the pattern-thing is unnerving. They find patterns EVERYWHERE. And my DS colors symmetrically, which made our librarian look at him like

.

 

[Casha'sMommy]

I'm thinking dh will probably do things like this.
Oh, how I long for the days when someone else assists in channelling dd's "creativity".

 

[eilonwy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VanessaS Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I was just laughing at your comment and then I realized: my kids must be doing that too! I'm constantly walking around the house screwing the handles back onto things and I was joking with my husband yesterday that we must have a poltergeist who comes at night to loosen the screws again. But, you know what: it's my kids! : They are soooo sneaky! Well, at least that mystery has been solved.

Oh yes.

It's definately them. My kids giggle when it happens.

Quote:

Oh, yes. My children completely dissect the food and build towers and things out of it. My mother complains, "It's bad enough that they play with their food. But do they have to be creative with it?!" And I always find food stuffed into the crevices of the dining room furniture. Yuck.

Oh, no, it's not the playing with food-- I mean literally hit or miss. Sometimes we'll go to put something down on the table and the entire thing will collapse... because Miss BooBah has loosened (or removed) all the wingnuts.

My mom has said that several family members had been known to loosen the wingnuts of cribs-- one cousin was placed in his crib for a nap and the thing just fell apart-- he'd loosened all the screws during playtime. Apparently he laughed his little head off when it all went down. He was about 18 months old.

 

[VanessaS]

Quote:

Sometimes we'll go to put something down on the table and the entire thing will collapse... because Miss BooBah has loosened (or removed) all the wingnuts.

That's funny because we have that too. Starting this evening. The table didn't collapse but it was pretty wobbly at dinner tonight. And now we know why my DD was sitting under there staring upwards for over an hour this afternoon. Giggling her little head off. I thought she was just being weird as usual. I should have known there was a higher purpose.

 

[hergrace]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VanessaS You know the phrase "The lights are on but nobody's home." to denote someone who's not very bright? Well with my children it's more like "The lights are on and where is the f$%#in off switch? Darn it! It was here somewhere!" They don't fall asleep at night, they just pass out.

That's my house. DS1 and DD especially, but the other two aren't far behind.

I know people think I have unruly children that I don't discipline, but when they have taken it into their heads to do something, I can't stop them without physically hurting everybody. So far, all the little ones can take apart are zippers and snaps, but I see them eyeing the lug nuts on my car wheels and worry.