Bedtime destruction-Xpost

We have a window air conditioner downstairs in the kitchen. There's no way
one window air conditioner can cool the entire upstairs (we can't afford a
whole house air conditioner or more then one window one) so we just all have
window fans and regular fans. 2 per room! It's crazy. In the past we have
rarely used the window air conditioner. This is the hottest summer we've
had. Usually we average 11 days over 90 degrees for the entire summer but so
far we are on day 14 over 90 and it's not even August! It's cooling down to
97 today!
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
100 degrees, that's enough to make anyone nuts. Is an air-conditioner out
of
the question?


"Kender" wrote in message
news:6VRVa.19701$Ho3.3797@sccrnsc03...
Thanks so much for all your ideas and support.

I've decided to give Evan back his books but no library books. I put
some
toys in there last night. Thanks Dorothy. Of course he doesn't need to
earn
them. I just got in a power struggle and didn't realize it. I put the
girls
dollhouse and accessories (he loves it, they are bored with it) and a
fire
truck and some puzzles. I need to work out a new situation for the fan.
I'm
not sure how. It was 100 degrees yesterday and his room has no good
positioning for fans. Maybe we can build a shelf. I wish I could move
his
bed away from the windows but his room is really small, about 7 feet by
20
feet! It used to be an old sleeping porch back in 1913. The garbage bags
may
be needed on his windows but Evan's on the second floor! Bed knobs are
staying off. I think I'll pass on the bullet or brandy suggestion.

This all started when he was moved out of his crib in February. He has
just
gotten braver and more daring each day. It really got bad in May when he
was
potty trained and allowed to leave his room to use the bathroom. My
girls
were never like this! Maybe a ripped book or two but that was the extent
of
it. We had a doorknob cover on the inside of their room room but Evan
figured out how to take his off right away, hence the lock on the
outside.
I
think I will use this from time to time but I will try to not make it a
habit. It's reassuring that some of you contain your kids too, just in
different ways. Evan would definitely figure out a superyard. He's a
climber.

When he does fall asleep I can get two hours out of him. He already goes
to
bed at 7:30 so I can't imagine moving up his bedtime. Anyway, thanks for
all
the suggestions. Keep them coming if you have any more and I will update
you
on how the toys go. Too bad Janet is in France. Her kids always seem to
be
into the same things as mine. I guess you're there too Ellen!

--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00
"Kender" wrote in message
news:wFGVa.15870$YN5.13898@sccrnsc01...
HELP!
My three year old is a terror at nap and bedtime. He used to be such a
sweet
child and now, holy cow. He's destroying his room. The only thing he
has
in
there are windows, a bed, a bookcase, a dresser and two fans, as it is
very
hot here in the Pacific NW.

In regards to the window:
He has completely ripped his roller shades to bits. I think there's
more
duct tape on them then there is plastic left.
He has ripped out the screen on one. (The screens are on the inside,
old
house!)
He has broken his curtain rod several times.
He has drawn on the molding around the windows by scratching with the
metal
prongs from the plug of his fan.

Bookcase:
He has pulled it over (small bookcase only 3 feet high). Don't worry
it's
now screwed to the wall.
He has ripped ALL the pages out of 2 board books. One was a library
book,
sigh.
He rips all books somewhat therefore no more books, just empty shelves
screwed to the wall.

Bed:
He has round knobs on the 4 corners of his bed firmly glued in place,
yet
he
has removed three of said knobs.
He drew on the footboard of his bed with the above mentioned plug
prongs.

Dresser:
For some reason the only problems we've had is him changing his
clothes
during nap. No real problem there.

Fans:
He keeps unplugging them and turning them off. They are plugged into
an
extension cord because the outlet is far away from the window (window
fan).
We had wrapped electrical tape around the plugs to keep them in the
extension cord but as you can see from the drawings mentioned above he
just
unwrapped it.

Remarkably there is a closet filled with stuff including my clothes
and
storage that he hasn't been in (to the best of my knowledge). I guess
I
should lock it as he's running out of damage to do.

Also he keeps coming out of his room, at least 20 or more times every
nap
and bedtime. Tonight I finally put a lock on the outside of his door,
but
it
made me feel really crappy. I don't like locking him in especially
since
he's so destructive.

I take away privileges when he does something destructive to his room.
I
take away dessert after dinner, storytime before bed, or his fireman
sheets
that he likes come off the bed. I am running out of ideas since it's
not
working. Any suggestions welcome for either the destructive behavior
or
how
to get him to stay in his room.

I am considering putting toys in his room so he will have something
else
to
focus on at quiet/nap time, but I am afraid of the damage he will be
able
to
cause to/with them. I also feel this is a privilege he needs to earn.
We
have told him when he stops wrecking his room he can have toys up
there
but
maybe it's too much to ask. Maybe the toys will keep him from wrecking
things?

He does actually take naps about three days a week and goes to bed
after
about an hour but it's definitely getting longer. Last night it was
three
hours before he fell asleep. Tonight we're at 1.5 hours.
Thanks.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

We have a window AC in the upstairs, none downstairs. Downstairs has been
mostly bearable (a week or so of 95+ degree weather, plus it gets pretty
humid here), but our house is a Cape and the upstairs bedrooms are like an
attic...it would be just impossible to sleep here. We run a window fan
upstairs during the day (DH got this huge industrial window fan from work, I
swear it is like a wind tunnel ..no one is here anyway, we both work and
kids are at Camp Grandma for the summer) but we need the AC to sleep.
I'm sorry you are suffering out there! :-(



"Kender" wrote in message
newsUYVa.23229$YN5.21297@sccrnsc01...
We have a window air conditioner downstairs in the kitchen. There's no way
one window air conditioner can cool the entire upstairs (we can't afford a
whole house air conditioner or more then one window one) so we just all
have
window fans and regular fans. 2 per room! It's crazy. In the past we have
rarely used the window air conditioner. This is the hottest summer we've
had. Usually we average 11 days over 90 degrees for the entire summer but
so
far we are on day 14 over 90 and it's not even August! It's cooling down
to
97 today!
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
100 degrees, that's enough to make anyone nuts. Is an air-conditioner
out
of
the question?


"Kender" wrote in message
news:6VRVa.19701$Ho3.3797@sccrnsc03...
Thanks so much for all your ideas and support.

I've decided to give Evan back his books but no library books. I put
some
toys in there last night. Thanks Dorothy. Of course he doesn't need to
earn
them. I just got in a power struggle and didn't realize it. I put the
girls
dollhouse and accessories (he loves it, they are bored with it) and a
fire
truck and some puzzles. I need to work out a new situation for the
fan.
I'm
not sure how. It was 100 degrees yesterday and his room has no good
positioning for fans. Maybe we can build a shelf. I wish I could move
his
bed away from the windows but his room is really small, about 7 feet
by
20
feet! It used to be an old sleeping porch back in 1913. The garbage
bags
may
be needed on his windows but Evan's on the second floor! Bed knobs are
staying off. I think I'll pass on the bullet or brandy suggestion.

This all started when he was moved out of his crib in February. He has
just
gotten braver and more daring each day. It really got bad in May when
he
was
potty trained and allowed to leave his room to use the bathroom. My
girls
were never like this! Maybe a ripped book or two but that was the
extent
of
it. We had a doorknob cover on the inside of their room room but Evan
figured out how to take his off right away, hence the lock on the
outside.
I
think I will use this from time to time but I will try to not make it
a
habit. It's reassuring that some of you contain your kids too, just in
different ways. Evan would definitely figure out a superyard. He's a
climber.

When he does fall asleep I can get two hours out of him. He already
goes
to
bed at 7:30 so I can't imagine moving up his bedtime. Anyway, thanks
for
all
the suggestions. Keep them coming if you have any more and I will
update
you
on how the toys go. Too bad Janet is in France. Her kids always seem
to
be
into the same things as mine. I guess you're there too Ellen!

--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00
"Kender" wrote in message
news:wFGVa.15870$YN5.13898@sccrnsc01...
HELP!
My three year old is a terror at nap and bedtime. He used to be such
a
sweet
child and now, holy cow. He's destroying his room. The only thing he
has
in
there are windows, a bed, a bookcase, a dresser and two fans, as it
is
very
hot here in the Pacific NW.

In regards to the window:
He has completely ripped his roller shades to bits. I think there's
more
duct tape on them then there is plastic left.
He has ripped out the screen on one. (The screens are on the inside,
old
house!)
He has broken his curtain rod several times.
He has drawn on the molding around the windows by scratching with
the
metal
prongs from the plug of his fan.

Bookcase:
He has pulled it over (small bookcase only 3 feet high). Don't worry
it's
now screwed to the wall.
He has ripped ALL the pages out of 2 board books. One was a library
book,
sigh.
He rips all books somewhat therefore no more books, just empty
shelves
screwed to the wall.

Bed:
He has round knobs on the 4 corners of his bed firmly glued in
place,
yet
he
has removed three of said knobs.
He drew on the footboard of his bed with the above mentioned plug
prongs.

Dresser:
For some reason the only problems we've had is him changing his
clothes
during nap. No real problem there.

Fans:
He keeps unplugging them and turning them off. They are plugged into
an
extension cord because the outlet is far away from the window
(window
fan).
We had wrapped electrical tape around the plugs to keep them in the
extension cord but as you can see from the drawings mentioned above
he
just
unwrapped it.

Remarkably there is a closet filled with stuff including my clothes
and
storage that he hasn't been in (to the best of my knowledge). I
guess
I
should lock it as he's running out of damage to do.

Also he keeps coming out of his room, at least 20 or more times
every
nap
and bedtime. Tonight I finally put a lock on the outside of his
door,
but
it
made me feel really crappy. I don't like locking him in especially
since
he's so destructive.

I take away privileges when he does something destructive to his
room.
I
take away dessert after dinner, storytime before bed, or his fireman
sheets
that he likes come off the bed. I am running out of ideas since it's
not
working. Any suggestions welcome for either the destructive behavior
or
how
to get him to stay in his room.

I am considering putting toys in his room so he will have something
else
to
focus on at quiet/nap time, but I am afraid of the damage he will be
able
to
cause to/with them. I also feel this is a privilege he needs to
earn.
We
have told him when he stops wrecking his room he can have toys up
there
but
maybe it's too much to ask. Maybe the toys will keep him from
wrecking
things?

He does actually take naps about three days a week and goes to bed
after
about an hour but it's definitely getting longer. Last night it was
three
hours before he fell asleep. Tonight we're at 1.5 hours.
Thanks.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

x-no-archive:yes
"Kender" wrote:

It's funny but I feel bad putting the window AC in our room and letting the
kids suffer. Who do I choose? Do you pull the air in during the day or push
it out with your industrial fan? We close everything up at 8am and open it
all at 8pm. I grew up without AC but it's just so much more uncomfortable
when you get older. I just tell myself I'm sweating off the pounds! : )

We moved to this old wooden house in 1973 and it was almost 30 years
before we got A/C. We have big old trees, and high ceilings
downstairs and a wrap-around porch. We also put in a big attic fan
which pulls air through the house pretty well. (Pushing air is
ineffective for ventilation. Axial fans (the kind in most homes which
have a propeller like action and blow air) are not the most efficient
way to ventilate.

What we would do is open the windows upstairs at night and shut off
the downstairs. The rooms that are in use have an ordinary fan in one
window pulling air in - helping the attic fan which is exhausting the
air out. The fans would run all night cooling the upstairs.

Then early in the morning, pull the shades on the sunny side of the
house and close the windows on that side. Close other windows
upstairs of rooms not in use, Open windows on north side and on the
side shaded by another building. Draw all blinds except the windows
that are open. Keep running the attic fan. The upstairs will warm
up, but the downstairs will stay fairly cool, especially in the family
room where we also have a ceiling fan.

We don't usually have more than 4 -9 days a year where it is
unbearable during the day, and then the fan cools off the house at
night. Increasing the insulation helps too - it isn't just keeping
out the cold that insulation does -- it keeps out the heat too.

You need to realize that if the air temp is over about 95 deg F,
blowing air on you will not cool you off, as you are blowing hot air
onto yourself. I used to put 2 liter bottles of water (used soda
bottles not quite full) in the freezer, and then hold them or let the
air blow over them. I didn't have A/C in my car either, so I'd put a
couple of them in the cooler in the back seat and hold one of them on
my lap as I drove.

Also people that are acclimatized to the heat will withstand it
better.

Lukewarm baths or showers (not hot and NOT cold) do best to cool a
person off. So if I was really hot, I'd go stick my hands and feet
under a faucet.

Now we have a single room A/C for our room, but of course by now the
kids are out of the house. But we don't have an A/C for the boat, and
don't intend to get one.

If it is too hot during the day, you can go somewhere that they have
A/C. The choice used to be movie theatres. Now it is the library or
the mall. If you have the A/C in your bedroom, you can spend the day
there if you need to.

Actually, if you HAD TO, you could all sleep in one A/C room. There's
nothing wrong with having the kids sleep on the floor for a couple of
nights.

grandma Rosalie

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
news
Then early in the morning, pull the shades on the sunny side of the
house and close the windows on that side. Close other windows
upstairs of rooms not in use, Open windows on north side and on the
side shaded by another building. Draw all blinds except the windows
that are open. Keep running the attic fan. The upstairs will warm
up, but the downstairs will stay fairly cool, especially in the family
room where we also have a ceiling fan.

Yeah, the original AC was ice in front of a fan, so you could put the frozen
bottles in front of a fan for a makeshift AC.

We use the big fan to pull out the hot air during the day... When the sun
goes down we reverse it to pull the cool air in. It can get downright chilly
then. OS sleeps downstairs so he is ok at night, the younger two can camp in
here in sleeping bags on the floor (or downstairs with OS) if it is just
too hot in their room, but it hasn't come to that yet. This summer has been
pretty cool here so far, which is kind of unusual for the Philly area. Many
summers there are reports of people dying from the heat here, but I haven't
heard of any yet this year. I remember sleeping in my parents room on the
floor when I was a kid. :-)
I guess we put the AC in our room because hubby works in a foundry all day
(he's an assistant to sculptor who casts in bronze).
Since no one is home here during the day, we really don't need the AC down
there. I try not to cook indoors too!

"Kender" wrote in message
news:hp_Va.23984$YN5.21442@sccrnsc01...
It's funny but I feel bad putting the window AC in our room and letting
the
kids suffer. Who do I choose? Do you pull the air in during the day or
push
it out with your industrial fan? We close everything up at 8am and open it
all at 8pm. I grew up without AC but it's just so much more uncomfortable
when you get older. I just tell myself I'm sweating off the pounds! : )
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
We have a window AC in the upstairs, none downstairs. Downstairs has
been
mostly bearable (a week or so of 95+ degree weather, plus it gets pretty
humid here), but our house is a Cape and the upstairs bedrooms are like
an
attic...it would be just impossible to sleep here. We run a window fan
upstairs during the day (DH got this huge industrial window fan from
work,
I
swear it is like a wind tunnel ..no one is here anyway, we both work and
kids are at Camp Grandma for the summer) but we need the AC to sleep.
I'm sorry you are suffering out there! :-(



"Kender" wrote in message
newsUYVa.23229$YN5.21297@sccrnsc01...
We have a window air conditioner downstairs in the kitchen. There's no
way
one window air conditioner can cool the entire upstairs (we can't
afford
a
whole house air conditioner or more then one window one) so we just
all
have
window fans and regular fans. 2 per room! It's crazy. In the past we
have
rarely used the window air conditioner. This is the hottest summer
we've
had. Usually we average 11 days over 90 degrees for the entire summer
but
so
far we are on day 14 over 90 and it's not even August! It's cooling
down
to
97 today!
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
100 degrees, that's enough to make anyone nuts. Is an
air-conditioner
out
of
the question?


"Kender" wrote in message
news:6VRVa.19701$Ho3.3797@sccrnsc03...
Thanks so much for all your ideas and support.

I've decided to give Evan back his books but no library books. I
put
some
toys in there last night. Thanks Dorothy. Of course he doesn't
need
to
earn
them. I just got in a power struggle and didn't realize it. I put
the
girls
dollhouse and accessories (he loves it, they are bored with it)
and
a
fire
truck and some puzzles. I need to work out a new situation for the
fan.
I'm
not sure how. It was 100 degrees yesterday and his room has no
good
positioning for fans. Maybe we can build a shelf. I wish I could
move
his
bed away from the windows but his room is really small, about 7
feet
by
20
feet! It used to be an old sleeping porch back in 1913. The
garbage
bags
may
be needed on his windows but Evan's on the second floor! Bed knobs
are
staying off. I think I'll pass on the bullet or brandy suggestion.

This all started when he was moved out of his crib in February. He
has
just
gotten braver and more daring each day. It really got bad in May
when
he
was
potty trained and allowed to leave his room to use the bathroom.
My
girls
were never like this! Maybe a ripped book or two but that was the
extent
of
it. We had a doorknob cover on the inside of their room room but
Evan
figured out how to take his off right away, hence the lock on the
outside.
I
think I will use this from time to time but I will try to not make
it
a
habit. It's reassuring that some of you contain your kids too,
just
in
different ways. Evan would definitely figure out a superyard. He's
a
climber.

When he does fall asleep I can get two hours out of him. He
already
goes
to
bed at 7:30 so I can't imagine moving up his bedtime. Anyway,
thanks
for
all
the suggestions. Keep them coming if you have any more and I will
update
you
on how the toys go. Too bad Janet is in France. Her kids always
seem
to
be
into the same things as mine. I guess you're there too Ellen!

--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00
"Kender" wrote in message
news:wFGVa.15870$YN5.13898@sccrnsc01...
HELP!
My three year old is a terror at nap and bedtime. He used to be
such
a
sweet
child and now, holy cow. He's destroying his room. The only
thing
he
has
in
there are windows, a bed, a bookcase, a dresser and two fans, as
it
is
very
hot here in the Pacific NW.

In regards to the window:
He has completely ripped his roller shades to bits. I think
there's
more
duct tape on them then there is plastic left.
He has ripped out the screen on one. (The screens are on the
inside,
old
house!)
He has broken his curtain rod several times.
He has drawn on the molding around the windows by scratching
with
the
metal
prongs from the plug of his fan.

Bookcase:
He has pulled it over (small bookcase only 3 feet high). Don't
worry
it's
now screwed to the wall.
He has ripped ALL the pages out of 2 board books. One was a
library
book,
sigh.
He rips all books somewhat therefore no more books, just empty
shelves
screwed to the wall.

Bed:
He has round knobs on the 4 corners of his bed firmly glued in
place,
yet
he
has removed three of said knobs.
He drew on the footboard of his bed with the above mentioned
plug
prongs.

Dresser:
For some reason the only problems we've had is him changing his
clothes
during nap. No real problem there.

Fans:
He keeps unplugging them and turning them off. They are plugged
into
an
extension cord because the outlet is far away from the window
(window
fan).
We had wrapped electrical tape around the plugs to keep them in
the
extension cord but as you can see from the drawings mentioned
above
he
just
unwrapped it.

Remarkably there is a closet filled with stuff including my
clothes
and
storage that he hasn't been in (to the best of my knowledge). I
guess
I
should lock it as he's running out of damage to do.

Also he keeps coming out of his room, at least 20 or more times
every
nap
and bedtime. Tonight I finally put a lock on the outside of his
door,
but
it
made me feel really crappy. I don't like locking him in
especially
since
he's so destructive.

I take away privileges when he does something destructive to his
room.
I
take away dessert after dinner, storytime before bed, or his
fireman
sheets
that he likes come off the bed. I am running out of ideas since
it's
not
working. Any suggestions welcome for either the destructive
behavior
or
how
to get him to stay in his room.

I am considering putting toys in his room so he will have
something
else
to
focus on at quiet/nap time, but I am afraid of the damage he
will
be
able
to
cause to/with them. I also feel this is a privilege he needs to
earn.
We
have told him when he stops wrecking his room he can have toys
up
there
but
maybe it's too much to ask. Maybe the toys will keep him from
wrecking
things?

He does actually take naps about three days a week and goes to
bed
after
about an hour but it's definitely getting longer. Last night it
was
three
hours before he fell asleep. Tonight we're at 1.5 hours.
Thanks.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"toypup" wrote in message
news:nL%Va.23553$uu5.3139@sccrnsc04...

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
news
Then early in the morning, pull the shades on the sunny side of the
house and close the windows on that side. Close other windows
upstairs of rooms not in use, Open windows on north side and on the
side shaded by another building. Draw all blinds except the windows
that are open. Keep running the attic fan. The upstairs will warm
up, but the downstairs will stay fairly cool, especially in the family
room where we also have a ceiling fan.

Yeah, the original AC was ice in front of a fan, so you could put the
frozen
bottles in front of a fan for a makeshift AC.

Great suggestion. I will put some large soda bottles in the freezer tonight
and try it!
Thanks,
Erin

In article , Rosalie says...



Actually, if you HAD TO, you could all sleep in one A/C room. There's
nothing wrong with having the kids sleep on the floor for a couple of
nights.

grandma Rosalie

I was waiting for it - I knew Rosalie was too practical to leave this option
out. :-)

This is the nighttime hot weather strategy in my house, and in the homes of many
families I know.

Banty

Kender wrote:
It's funny but I feel bad putting the window AC in our room and
letting the kids suffer. Who do I choose?

In a similar situation last summer we chose to all sleep in the living room
:-) Our window AC was downstairs. The upstairs was bearable only when it
cooled down at night. During the weeks when it was hot day and night we
couldn't stand it.

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

In article 6VRVa.19701$Ho3.3797@sccrnsc03,
"Kender" wrote:

I need to work out a new situation for the fan. I'm
not sure how. It was 100 degrees yesterday and his room has no good
positioning for fans.

A ceiling fan? You can get them with a light fitting built in to the centre,
and if your area is hot and sticky, moving air is really the best way to cool
down.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age
or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 15:56:50 GMT, "Kender" wrote:

This all started when he was moved out of his crib in February. He has just
gotten braver and more daring each day.


I wonder if it's not something with kids born around that same time? My youngest
turned 3 on 4/15 and is Ms. Destructo. She's the youngest of 4 and none of the
older kids caused as much damage as she has!

I really think this is the age where they're just super-inquisitive and
exploring the world like they couldn't before. While I spend a very big part of
my day just with Kate, keeping her busy, she tires me out with her antics, so I
need a break here and there. This is the time when she'll decide to do one of
her tricks.

The other week, I had to send an email. In the 5 minutes that I was in the
office doing that -- and she was supposed to be watching cartoons -- she coated
the dog in sunblock.

The other night, I was in the living room, DH was in the office, and I thought
she was with him. No, she was in the kitchen, pouring a bottle of water on the
floor to make her own "pool."

She's a climber, too, and can pretty much get at anything that I put up out of
her reach (which is everything these days).

Kate seems to be at that age where she really doesn't need a nap, but if she
doesn't have one, she gets *very* cranky by about 6 p.m. Most days, I try to
keep her up and in a good mood by playing outside for a couple of hours before
dinner. Some days, though, she just conks out and that's where the trouble is
here. She'll fall asleep around 6, can't be woken up, and then when she does
wake, she's up until the wee hours (like last night, when she finally fell
asleep at 2 a.m.)

I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you. I just keep repeating "It's only a
phase" and try to live through each day.



Tracy


======================================
We child proofed our home 3 years ago
and they're still getting in!
======================================