2/9/2010 How Do You Solve a Problem like Wesley?

Doesn't exactly go with the tune from The Sound of Music, but it sure fits my newest problem. I can't keep up with this kid. Within the last few weeks he has drawn on the carpets with a sharpie marker, cut open and then shredded an expensive, ride-on dinosaur toy with scissors (yes mom, the one you gave him for Christmas last year) and then proceeded to spread the stuffing over the entire house, and cut open an "I-spy" bag with thousands of tiny beads that roll all over tile floors (yes mom, the I-spy bag you gave him. Maybe I better call you.). Individually, each of these would be a normal "kid" thing to do. But these are just the more memorable moments. Every day I find something new he has taken apart - a flashlight, a game, an electronic gadget, kitchen items, makeup, boxes, bottles, paper clips, a measuring tape, bits of yarn, produce from the fridge, etc, etc. All these and more have been found destroyed. Revenge in the form of spankings has been accomplished. And yet, his reasons for attempting to kill these innocent victims is not malignant. I think he has an innate curiosity and need to figure things out, to tinker, to discover, to find out what's beneath.

If only I could burst into song with a soulful look on my face, give a resigned sigh, send him off to govern a household of rowdy kids, and get my problem solved. No, I don't think my problem is going anywhere. In a few short years I'll come home to the guts of my laptop strewn across the kitchen table...