I finally had to relocate the vacuum cleaner to an undisclosed (to my 20-month old) location: behind the guest bedroom's closed door. For about a week, every morning, Caleb had woken up and begun his trek down the hallway to the kitchen for his first sip of milk from the fridge...only to stop at the coat closet and grab my hand, point, and repeatedly say, "Gatz, gatz!" I then proceeded to open the door for him to view the Hoover Turbo Power 7300. That simple action only gave Caleb a one or two day fix: then, he wanted more. "Pull the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and let me look at it in the hallway all day long!" his pleas said (in much fewer vocabulary words, however). Later on in the week: uncoil the cord each morning. By day 5 or 6, it actually was vacuuming day, so Caleb's joy was filled to the brim with my plug-in, turn-on, and push-push of his favorite household machine.
Day 1, week 2: "More, more! Plug in, turn on!" the cleaning obsessed boy seemingly said. I tried to explain to him that I refused to vacuum the carpet every day...the floors probably could use it, but I couldn't use the "task" hanging over my head. So--solution? Plans for the next day's nap time relocation....as described in the first line...
Day 2, week 2: "Gatz, gatz!" Hallway closed door opened to......emptiness! I had wondered what Caleb's first reaction would be. Would he keep saying his beloved word "Vac"...would he cry and throw a fit....would he drag my hand to "look" for the Hoover friend? Of course the toddler had a solution: Popper Substitution.
Last month, I found a used popper toy (one similar to my childhood toy) at Once Upon a Child for $3.50. Best investment EVER (and much cheaper than the adult version that used to live in our hallway closet). Can we say obsession? Caleb's favorite toy by far. Could it be the vacuum cleaner resemblance? Who knows that goes through these little people's minds. As of now, the empty closet has a new resident, and the noisy plastic toy has a new resting spot. Plus, in Caleb's mind, the carpet in and in front of the closet is so clean...it gets vacuumed numerous times daily, sometimes minutely.
I wonder how long this "fix" will last....how long can I keep Caleb out of the guest bedroom, and when will he want his bigger friend back? This weekend, I did take the original carpet sweeper out (while Caleb was in another room) and wheeled it to the family room...just in time for Mr. Clean to watch me plug it in and turn it on. Such a happy boy....highlight of his day? I returned it to the guest bedroom after Caleb went to the deck to play....and no notice was made about its disappearance.
Today: back to popping. Love that Gatz!
