Saturday, February 03, 2007

Play . . . D'Oh!

We're fortunate that Jada hasn't been a typical orally-fixated kid, in
terms of bringing everything to her mouth to taste or chew on. It
certainly cuts down on the worries for us.

But there's one exception: Play Doh. Amy gives her a lump of Play
Doh, a small rolling pin, and some cookie cutters, and Jada is happy
as a clam spreading the Play Doh over her kid table and cutting out
stars and angels.

But leave her for a second and you will return to find a suspicious
looking toddler with red in her mouth. And when we fish out the lump
and instruct her not to put it in her mouth, she gives us a crying
fit.

We think it's because she just wants to be like Mama. And when Mama
has her dough and rolling pin out, the end result is really tasty
things that Jada and I like to eat and compliment Amy over. So when
we turn around and scold Jada for her creations, it must be terribly
confusing or even hurtful.

Still, Play Doh isn't for eating, tasty-looking as it might seem. So
she'll just have to figure out the difference between real treats that
are good to eat and non-toxic but still not-fit-for-consumption play
treats that are fun to play with but not good for eating.

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