Give Him A Hand...

Most parents wonder if their children are normal. Are they meeting milestones? Are those strange quirks and habits they develop something more to worry about? Usually my conclusion is that I have healthy children. Weird, but healthy.

So today I was looking on the website Parent Center for a little mainstream advice. Since the time I was just barely pregnant, I’ve used this website for looking for general information, like how to get your kids to eat more vegetables, how to get them to sleep at night, or discipline alternatives to beating the daylights out of them. Yet, my kids never fit into the normal categories.

For instance, they have no articles on if you should worry that your child is drinking too much vegetable juice or still carries around a size 18mo jacket

By no means is Brigid the only quirky kid in this house. I was on Parent Center today looking up the topic of “preschooler obsessions” today because Aidan has developed an odd obsession about hands lately. I’m not talking about just his own hands, but all the hands in the entire world. .
Take for example, Paul took Aidan to the zoo a couple weeks ago, while I escorted Brigid to a birthday party. When he got home and I asked him what he saw, he excitedly said “I saw giraffes, cows and HANDS! I saw lots of HANDS!!!”

Whenever Paul leaves for work in the morning, Aidan absolutely has a meltdown if I don’t hold him in the garage so he can watch Paul pull the car out. Every single day, Paul opens his sunroof and has to stick his hands out the roof and wave goodbye so Aidan can see his HANDS! If he doesn’t, Aidan will melt into a sobbing heap on the floor.

He also likes to use the old “there’s a monster in my closet” excuse for not going to bed, except he’ll say wide eyed “there’s a hand in my closet,” or in his bed, or on the shelf, etc. A hand. I’ve never been sure how to respond to that one, other than the usual “no, there are no hands in your closet, Aidan.” That’s one of those weird sentences only a parent of a 3 year old would say, or the parent of teenager with very big issues! At this point I think I’m safe assuming there really aren’t any real hands stashed away in the closet.

So as usual, there is no standard advice for a parent who has a child with a hand obsession. At least it doesn’t appear to be a sign of some mental distress or disease. He’s just a very creative and intense 3 year old boy!