March 18, 2009

Is There a Doctor in the House?

The toddler tornado was given playdough as a Christmas present. My OCD tendencies hadn't allowed it in the house until then.

Yeah, I know. I'm a bad mom and I really need to let go of some of my quirks now that I have a child. Baby steps though, baby steps.

We pulled it out last week when Aunt A was here, to try to cut down on toddler tantrums and try to wean her from her television addiction. KT, not Aunt A! The first day we pulled out numerous colors and I about had a heart attack and she blended purple, pink and aqua. I fared much better on subsequent attempts when I only let her play with one color at a time.

I quickly discovered that playdough is not my forte. My sculpting talents are minimal and the smell is noxious. Thankfully my sister was here and has a much, much more prolific artistic ability than me.

Like so many other children, KT is fascinated with playdough. Smooshing it between her stubby fingers, throwing it across the kitchen and sticking it on her face. She especially enjoys destroying anything that I have made in an attempt to fulfill her requests. Every time we sit at the table to play with it we easily kill an hour.

Unfortunately, I discovered after 3 days of playdough fun, that it is apparently a HUGE trigger of my eczema. Huge.

So either I keep a stash of rubber gloves on hand to protect my hands in the future or I effectively hide all playdough containers during the day so I'm not expected to play.

I don't think a doctor's note would allow me to opt out of this activity, do you?


3 comments:

Kristen said...

Hell yeah it would. :D There has been no Playdough in my house yet despite both OT's requesting it. Want me to forge you that letter???

Tiaras & Tantrums said...

Ha! You girls haven't watched Emma's painting video on her blog yet huh?

http://journey-through-toddlerhood.blogspot.com/

Send them to my house! We LOVE playdough!!!!!

On a side note - will homemade playdough irritate the skin Mandy? I can send you the recipe?

Kristin, Rod, and Victoria said...

Awww. crap! Hopefully KT doesn't have the same reaction... tho I guess you'd know by now if she did.

It took me until well after V was 2 before we got the play doh out. And I'm all about the "1 color at a time" rule! I'm getting a little better, as it is so inexpensive to buy or make.. I figure it dries out so quickly, who cares if it gets mixed when it's about to be thrown away anyway?