Quirky kids
Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers
One of my favorite things about children is that they are unabashedly quirky. They take on the world with a kind gusto and wide-eyed wonder, and they bring unbridled passion to their interests: be it collecting rocks, or eating bread only with the crusts removed.
Toddlers and preschoolers in particular seem to develop habits and behaviors that at any other time in their lives would be considered totally strange, but at the age of 2 or 3 are par for the course.
Wondertime's "The Oddball Chronicles" are full of the obsessions, collections, and passions that make young kids wildly original and unique. One child has an obsession with the kitchen rolling pin. Another a love for cotton balls taken to the extreme.
It's a reassuring to read about the weird fascinations and fixations of other people's kids--because they make me make me feel, as the parent of a little one, just a tad more normal.
My son is currently obsessed with the idea that foxes live upstairs in our hallway. He won't go up the stairs alone, unless he pretends he's a shark--because clearly, everyone knows sharks eat foxes, right?
Do your kids have odd obsessions or quirks?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Judy 5-18-2008 @ 7:20PM
My 4 yo son has been absolutely obsessed with trains since he was able to communicate his likes and dislikes. I don't know that I would call that quirky though.
When my daughter was about the same age, she had a bank deposit bag (I don't have any idea where she got it or why we had it) and kept every receipt from anything we did in that bag. I never understood why, but if I was given a receipt for anything - groceries, pizza, gas - she wanted it and put it in that bag. It lasted for about a year (I wish I still had it).
My 2 yo son is terrified of the vacuum cleaner, leaf blowers, the garbage truck and - the weird one - the big air vents and metal pipes on ceilings in big grocery stores. He will get hysterical and cling to me if we walk underneath one.
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Judy 5-18-2008 @ 8:01PM
And when my first son was not quite 3, we bought a butternut squash at the store. My husband, for whatever reason, drew a face on it. It became my son's "pet" and we could not cook it. When it started to rot, we finally threw it away.
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Anita 5-18-2008 @ 10:20PM
My 5 year old son (he'll be 6 in three weeks) has never let us sing Happy Birthday to him since he was old enough to tell have an opinion. That includes his parties at school too. The days his class was supposed to celebrate his birthday, he'd freak out and refuse to go until we promised to tell the teacher to ignore the fact that it was his birthday! He really does not like being the center of attention.
He also finds a favorite outfit every few weeks and wears it every time it is clean. I purposely avoid doing laundry just so he'll have more variety in his clothes.
He lives in fear of being "laughed at" by anyone and acts so self concious in any new situation. I've called him quirky all his life. It's a good word for a challenging kid.
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the goddess anna 5-19-2008 @ 1:07PM
My second son likes to pretend he's a puppy (he's a few weeks shy of 3). He likes to eat and drink out of bowls, and fetches quite readily. It freaks my MIL out, but fetch is the quickest way to get him to pick up toys!
His twin is obsessed with all things that bite. This was the son that had biting problems, so now he likes to use stuffed animals and toy lizards, even his hands, to pretend bite. Anything lizard-looking is called an aye-aye, which is his biting noise. I'm just happy he's not sinking his teeth into the rest of us any more!
My daughter is not just quirky - she's my evil clone. Which says a lot about me. Of course, she thinks I'm the evil clone...
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the goddess anna 5-19-2008 @ 1:09PM
The air vent reminds me of a pet fear of my own - I'm terrified of street drains. I saw the opening scene to 'It' when I was about 5-6, and I have been fearful of both clowns and storm drains ever since. Twenty years of fear unhampered by growing up - here's hoping your little one grows out of that one!
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Layla Brewer 8-09-2008 @ 1:25AM
I don't have kids (I'm proud of that), but I'm the 'fun cousin' and the 'fun aunt'. You know, the one you moms all absolutly HATE because we spend too much money on the kids and spoil them miserably whenever we get a chance?
My little cousin, who isn't so little anymore, she's half my age and taller than me, has her share of quirks.
From the day she was born until her little sister came along, she was terrified of my mother. Her mom, my cousin, would bring her by my grandparent's house to stay and when she saw my mother coming up the walkway, she would shriek and cry and wouldn't stop until mom drove away and her car was out of sight. We never understood it, mom loved this kid to death. When my second little cousin was born, she stopped and became buddies with mom.
Her sister loves money. She loves to save up pennies and all kinds of coins. I taught her how to count money when she was four (she's 9 now) through Pokemon Monopoly. I work at a Travel Plaza where I get coins all the time from people dropping them or leaving their pennies behind, so I'll give her and her siblings about 50 cents each in change whenever I see them. She's got close to $20 in change.
Their brother, the youngest, is a wild child. Of course, when he was about three or four (going on 8 now) he used to pretend he was a girl, walking around in dresses. We all thought it was cute, and a result of two older sisters. Now that girls have 'Cooties', he won't touch a dress, and he loves baseball, so there don't seem to be lingering effects from his temporary cross-dressing. Though, to torture him, I ask him if he wants to try on some of my dresses. He screams 'YUCK!!!' and runs to hide.
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