They aren't that way because anyone in this house makes enough errors in writing that they need to wear out the erasers on all those pencils.
The erasers are all down to nothing because someone picks them off.
I don't know if it's an obsession, a habit, a quirk, a sensory thing ... or what it is. But Kayla has this thing with erasers. It seems to be that she can't even help it, or isn't aware that she's actively doing it.
She loves to have a pencil. She will hold a pencil in her hand all day if we let her. Just wandering around with a pencil, not actually using it to write, but just holding it. Holding it and then picking at the eraser. Picking, picking, picking until there is nothing left. It's as if she prefers the pencils to be without erasers.
She does the same with any type of eraser that goes on the pencil, any small hand-held eraser too.
If we catch her with a pencil that still has a nice, full, brand-new eraser - unblemished with her picking at it - we are quick to take it away in hopes of salvaging an eraser.
She does her homework with two pencils. The one without an eraser and one with an eraser that she only uses when I'm sitting at the table with her and just letting her erase her work; and then she has to promptly switch back to using the pencil without an eraser.
As we're doing her work and she needs the eraser I try to point out that's why she shouldn't pick off the erasers - because she needs to use one when she makes mistakes and if she picks them off she doesn't have one to erase with!
What odd obsessions, quirks, or habits do your kids have?
9 comments:
Lizzy had the same habit for about a year. I used to joke that I should buy a gift for the custodian who had to clean up all those eraser bits under her desk :-). We also could never find a single pencil with an eraser in the house because she decapitated all of them. I don't know if this "cured" her or she just moved on to another quirk but I bought pencil fidgets from Therapro and attached them to her pencils for school.
Interesting. I wonder if the pencil with the new eraser is sort of top heavy? Maybe without the eraser it's more balanced and easy to use.
Beth goes around and puts the caps back on the pens. We try to keep a pen or two by the phone, the computer, ect. and we keep the caps off so we can use it quickly when needed. When we come in the room and see all the caps on the pens, we know Beth has been there!
You could try using a Kneaded Eraser, it has the consistency of silly putty so it can be manipulated without being destroyed. It is also the best eraser (I use it often as an artist) because it doesn't leave any eraser bits on the paper! :-)
My daughter used to carry a piece of tulle around with her everywhere....I don't know why. It was part of her dress up clothes and even when not dressed up she would carry it and twiddle it and chew on it.
She seems to have moved on now..
But she always has to shut doors, drives me crazy as I open the doors for fresh air and she is right behind me, shutting them and locking them.
Ben does the same thing only he bites them off, then chews them up. No pencil or book bag that might conatin a pencel is safe. Hopefully he will outgrow this soon. Very much a sensory thing.
Mine loves to pull all the silverware out and likes to carry them around everywhere. I hope it is just a phase.
OH MY GOODNESS!! Abbie does exactly that! Drives me bonkers.
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