This, Not That

I've come to an interesting hurdle in Little Man's development. How do I explain to a one-year-old to do this, not that?

For example: one of his favorite things to do is to throw the little stuffed reindeer that is Small Dog's favorite toy. Small Dog goes scampering after it and drops it at his feet, eliciting giggles from him (and, in all honesty, from me). We praise him when he plays nicely with Small Dog, and for about a week this game of fetch goes on at every opportunity.

Until yesterday, when Little Man took a plastic jug out of the cupboard and hurled it at Small Dog's head, then waited expectantly for her to bring it back. When she didn't come out from the under the table where she had (rightly so) darted, he looked crestfallen.

We think he's terribly clever when he walks around picking up items and putting them in his blue bucket, then emptying it out at another location. He is very methodical about this process, and I love to watch him.

What I don't love is when he puts things in the garbage can. Today he took several of his letter magnets and, with great gusto, tossed them into the garbage. He then looked at me and clapped his hands.

I obviously did not praise him for putting his magnets in the garbage--or his shoes, or my shoes, or his nana's computer mouse. I told him no and moved him away from the garbage. When he continued completely ignoring me, I realized that to him, the garbage can is just a really big bucket. I guess I'm lucky he didn't try to push the garbage can to another location and empty it.

Same goes for playing with Small Dog. She likes to chase her reindeer--why wouldn't she like to chase a 2-liter jug?

And so begins the teaching of uses: we throw balls, not apples--even though they're round. We put toys in our bucket, and trash in the garbage. We toss Small Dog gentle toys, not toys that could knock her unconscious.

No one ever said learning was easy.