Freedom

Cinderella has been suffering from a lack of freedom lately. We are grateful for my family members who have opened their doors to us, and are letting us stay with them right now. But it is always hard to not really have any space that is your own.

Cinderella and Guy are sleeping in my sisters room, which has a twin bed for Cinderella, a trundle for Guy, and a crib in it, which is where my mom puts my nephew down for a nap when she is watching him during the week.

So sleeping arrangements work out OK, but the downside, is that the room belongs to a girl who is almost 14 years old, so it has some things in it that are very exciting for a 4 year old that a 4 year old shouldn't touch. My sister does a pretty good job of trying to keep those kinds of things out of reach, but unfortunately my children are proving to be skilled climbers, and keep coming up with things they shouldn't have.

Yesterday Cinderella found my sisters lip gloss. She put it all over her hands, then proceeded to rub it down the rungs of the crib, and the end of the crib. She also said she put some in the carpet, but I haven't found that yet, and she also rubbed it allover a bag of pull ups. It would still be frustrating, but I would have an easier time with it, if it were my stuff she was getting into and not my sisters.

She seems to find trouble no matter where she goes if she goes alone. Part of the problem is this house isn't really set up for young children to live in. Go figure, the youngest that normally lives here is the one who is almost 14.

There is a playroom downstairs, but unfortunately right now the set up of the basement is such, that if the kids go down to play they usually not only make a really big mess of the toys but they also usually get into trouble in places other than the playroom. Because of this, they can't go downstairs without someone with them.

There is a backyard with a playground. But the yard isn't fenced all the way, and so they can't go outside to play, without someone with them.

The TV is in a bonus room, that also stores the games. If the kids go up alone, they pull out all of the games, or pull the movies off the shelves. The games are in the process of being made a little more inaccessible, but because of the movies and such, you guessed it, they can't go up there without someone going with them.

The computer is almost always in use, and even if it isn't, they aren't old enough to play it by themselves without someone helping them.

Notice a pattern here. There is no place for them to go, and nothing for them to do, without someone going with them. So it makes it hard for them and me.

Cinderella tries to sneak off on her own, and find something to do. But usually when this happens she ends up getting into trouble. Like the lip gloss yesterday. Another day, she emptied a tube of toothpaste into a bathroom sink. She has smeared another lip gloss all over a bathroom, as well as her face. She has taken a roll of toilet paper and dumped the whole thing into the toilet.

I know a big part of this is the age she is at. But the problem is accentuated by the current circumstances.

Any ideas of things to keep her occupied would be welcome.