Questions for Parents

Sorry to all of you child-free people, but I have some questions for other parents. So all of you go out and see a movie, or eat at a nice restaurant, or take a nap in the middle of the day. You know, all of those things that don't happen when kids are involved.

Parents, I have questions and would be interested to know what your answers might be to them.

1. At what age did your kids start washing themselves at bathtime? We still use Johnson & Johnson's baby wash, and when Garrett takes a shower, he does really well with washing himself (that soap is easy for him to pump out in his hand and I don't have to worry about him hurting his eyes. But he does like to play with the bar soap, so I'm sure he would do fine washing with that if that's what most other 4 year olds are doing.) But when he takes a bath, I still wash his hair and rinse it, but he washes himself. I'm just not sure at what point I should start insisting he do all of it himself. And at what point I should move him up from baby soap. I remember my mom washing my hair for a long period of time (probably until I was 8ish), so I was extremely babied in this area (I guess?).

2. At what age are your kids solely responsible for brushing their own teeth? Garrett already has a predisposition for getting cavities (though he drinks nothing sugary after supper, we're vigilant with teeth brushing, and doing it ourselves, he's just predisposed towards them). So I'm not ready to turn this over to him on his own knowing that he already has cavity issues, but I am curious what other parents are doing in this area. Maybe I should start letting him brush by himself in the mornings and I will help him in the evenings.

3. At what age should parents of the opposite sex be extra careful about keeping doors locked when they're changing clothes? I feel like we've hit that age where I no longer want to allow Garrett to accidentally walk in on me showering or changing, but I'm curious what everyone else's opinion is. I don't want to make this a big deal, but at the same time, we obviously have to have boundaries. And being in a house full of boys, I'm sure I'll be seeing naked bodies for a long time, but the doors will be locked when I'm showering or changing. (And just as a funny story, my youngest brother was always the "streaker" growing up. It was never a surprise to see his naked body walking down the hall or lounging in his bedroom with the door open. He did this up until his early teen years. And then he of course enjoyed regular mooning, so I'm sure there won't be much my boys will do in this area that will surprise me. And now this brother has surrendered to preach. Who says pastors live dull lives?) :)

4. What was the youngest age that you moved a child out of their crib? I don't really have any aspirations to move Cooper out of his crib anytime soon, but I also wouldn't be surprised if, in the next year or so, Garrett starts asking for Cooper to sleep with him. Garrett was 2 years and 4 months old when we moved him out of the crib and into a full sized bed with a bedrail. I'm just curious to hear what everyone else has done in this area.

5. At what point do you start teaching your child how to use a butter knife for cutting (easy to cut) meat or buttering bread? Ever since Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution talked about butter knives in school cafeterias and the fact that students should be using them for practice instead of just serving them only food that can be eaten by hand, I've started wondering about this. I'm interested to see if Garrett is old enough to learn this, but I'm not sure I'm ready to teach him. :) He still tries to sneakily eat some of his food with his hands if he thinks we're not watching. When he's a little older, I will begin enforcing table etiquettes. My mom was very persistent about teaching all of us how to properly use a knife and fork, the correct way to set a table, etc, so I plan to do the same with my boys.

OK, I think these are all of my questions. For now. :) As Garrett gets older, I'm sure I'll add more to this list. I know I should begin teaching him how to tie his shoes, but we haven't tackled that yet. Or how to ride his bike without training wheels. I'm not looking forward to that one.