Why?

[sstormwatch]

Why does my little girl, who loves for us to read books to her, who goes to sleep with books in her bed, who will ruin her eyes trying to read the stories by nightlight... why does she destroy her own books

Comments

Childless woman chiming in

[jillwheezul]

Just a hunch, I am thinking that she is fascinated with the pictures and some of the gorgeous bright colors in the book. Or she wants to take the characters images and write her own story. Or she really wants to create images on her own

Re: Childless woman chiming in

[sstormwatch]

I think you nailed the right angle on this one. Once I had calmed down, I asked her if she wanted to play with the pictures, and to put them on her wall. She lit up and was very happy at the ideas you gave. So, we went looking for coloring books, and will be scanning her favorite images to put up on her walls.

So far, the hunt for a good coloring book, or even one that wasn't obviously masculine has not found a thing. But we will continue looking, and we will scan some of her books that haven't already been torn apart. She already has crayons and paper to play "homework" (her words, not mine) with, and I do have a few of her artwork scribbles on my fridge.

Thank you.

Re: Childless woman chiming in

[docryder]

I saw a Dora and Santa coloring book last night. I simply decided not to pick it up at that point. I may go back for it, as it seems it might be a good thing for her.

Re: Childless woman chiming in

[jillwheezul]

I'm sooo glad that you seem to have made a connection on the subject. I just pictured in my minds eye a darling little girl knowing she was in trouble but not able to articulate what her urges meant. ((Hugs)) to you both. Have you tried the internet for coloring pages like these? I use them when the boss brings in his young sons and they start wandering from desk to desk and need direction. They are dinosaur pros.

http://www.coloring.ws/fairies1.htm

http://www.coloring.ws/butterfly1.htm

http://www.printactivities.com/ColoringPages/Princesses/Princess-Coloring-Pages.html

[slug_life]

Her interest in books may extend to the actual manufacture of them. I remember being a kid and destroying books because I wanted to see how they were held together.

--m4

[jillwheezul]

Yet another idea: make books of her own artwork with a little yarn and one of those big plastic needles.

[sstormwatch]

Any ideas where I can find those big plastic needles? I want to get some for my son to work with, too... and haven't been able to find them. I think I am looking in the wrong departments at Hancocks and Joanns, but I don't know where else to look.

[jillwheezul]

I think I have seen them at Michaels. Do you have those?

[rwfranz]

I suspect a few things.

Some possible explanations.
One, the books may be a proxy for something/someone else.
Two, it may be normal.
Three, negative attention is still attention.
Four, the ripping of pages may give her a feeling of control over something.

I could be completely off base on any of the previous four. Or dead on.

After searching Google, I found this (seemingly appropriate) link.
Stopping destructive behaviors in children. You may find it useful, or not.

[sstormwatch]

Ok, the first two make sense. #3 is more likely to give her less attention from me, as I leave the area and avoid her trying to calm down. She prefers to try to get me to be happy, so I will play with her when I am happy. #4 is a maybe. Thanks for the link, I will give it a look.

[margorose]

I've found the plastic needles at Michaels, in the knitting department.

[sstormwatch]

Explains why I hadn't seen them... as I don't do much with yarn anymore. Thanks!