(no subject)

[sistawendy]

Margaret Cho is slow-paced, but funny. She reminds me of alexiarnps. Does this mean I've lost my mind?

The Wendling has driven me to clench my teeth hard enough to chip for the second time in as many years. That was before I extracted the little plastic Chinese checker from the VCR just now. I've got to get that boy something non-destructive to do with his hands that he'll actually like.

Comments

[deadrose.livejournal.com]

Does he like Lego?

It's been one of Emrys' saving joys in the world. As a result, we have something like 3 giant tubs of Lego here. The uh---- 44 quart ones, iirc.

Maybe sometimke y'all should come over and we'll dump them all out on the floor at once.

(in a more temporary thing, a big bowl full of dried beans is a great soother to just sit and run one's hands through)

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Does he like Lego?

I'm afraid not. He's got a bucket of them that he loves to dump, but he doesn't like making anything out of them. I think he's got some hypersensitivity in his hands.

The bean thing, though, I'll definitely try. He used to like it back when he was doing OT.

[adularia.livejournal.com]

Um. Knitting?

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

You know, that's not bad. It might be too involved for him, but it's worth a shot.

[adularia.livejournal.com]

It sounds fun to me, at least. I don't knit (yet) but I've long considered it, as something repetitive that would stop me from chewing my nails.

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Can you believe it? A kid who doesn't like Legos.

[generalchaos.livejournal.com]

Didn't know it was actually possible to clench one's teeth enough to make them chip. I'll have to watch that myself. eep...

As for the Wendling - sew? make chain mail (the metal kind), origami? card houses?

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

This particular tooth has already been fixed about five times, so it's not real enamel I'm chipping. The original enamel was chipped by biting on metal.

The Wendling is seven going on five, so I don't trust him with sewing tools yet. Chain mail probably takes too much force, but it might be worth a try. Origami I've tried unsuccessfully, but might be worth another try. Card houses are so delicate that they might be too frustrating for the jumpenflapper in him.

random suggestions

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

Play-doh or modeling clay, though that can get messy
dolls or paper dolls
Tubers & Zots-- those foam bendy things
musical instruments (you might still be grinding your teeth though)
latch-hook (I loved that as a kid)
felt boards

Re: random suggestions

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we've done Play-doh. He likes to rip it into crumbs and, of course, eat it.
Paper dolls -- hmm, could be good.
Tubers & Zots -- I'd forgotten about them! They might be good. He likes Tinkertoys.
I've tried musical instruments. To my horror, he's just not interested in playing them himself.
Felt boards -- Does he cut out his own shapes?

Re: random suggestions

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

No cutting that I know of. I was thinking of the kind I used to have as a kid-- a fuzzy black board, and then lots of little felt shapes. They have animals and plants and things, and they also have plain old shapes that you can use to make whatever you want. (My set also had flower parts-- stems, leaves and blossoms and centers of all different kinds-- to make your own flowers.) The felt sticks on the board just from friction, removes just as easily, make lots of pictures, no mess, less manual dexterity required than drawing.

a couple of ideas

[banana-chick.livejournal.com]

k'nex makes some interesting put together sorts of things, not all pieces have straight edges, more of them are rounded.

the sewing with the plastic needle on what I can only describe as plastic graph paper with holes in between the lines (people make tissue box covers out of it sometimes) and yarn

any of the knotting done with what is like thinner twine, I can't remember what the thread is called, you can do almost macrame stuff with it, braceltes, etc

magnets?

Re: a couple of ideas

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

K'nex sound like a good idea, too. Much in same vein as Tinkertoys.

He has magnets. He used to be interested in them, but less so now.

Re: a couple of ideas

[adularia.livejournal.com]

You're thinking of embroidery floss.

If you go that route, I recommend buying cards, not skeins.