Thanks to everyone. It's a relief to see that I'm not alone!
My son does attend a play-based preschool a handful of hours a week, so I do (thank goodness) get a little bit of time alone. And I take him to museums, libraries, parks, playdates, etc, as often as I can. Even so, I often fantasize about going back to work full-time. :p
I am glad to hear that others have kids who are interested in destroying the house. So often I go to another family's house, and they have a grown-up living situation, with glass shelves, knick-knacks, no baby gates, etc, and I am just baffled, how is this possible?
Oh, and if he starts to say something and it doesn't come out quite the way he wanted, he starts over again from the beginning.
Mine does this, too. The Your Three Year Old: Friend or Enemy (hah!) folks say that this is very typical for kids at around 31/2, to stutter or have to start over. I do think it's funny (and sometimes trying) to listen to a three-year-old pontificate about whatever but have to start over at the very beginning of his monologue because he stumbled somewhere. I get a lot of practice with patient listening!
For those who also have kids who never stop talking, have you had any success instituting Quiet Time? For a while I tried to have quiet time in the car (because I honestly felt like the constant talking and questioning was making me a less safe driver) and it was not super-successful.
I have another question for the group, about explaining scientific concepts. A common thing here is that he will hear something like "friction" and seize on it, and ask for information. I do my best to explain, but I often feel like, because his language use is so far ahead of the rest of his development, I can't be sure that I'm actually helping him understand anything - or if he's just parroting phrases. We've had good luck with the Vicki Cobb Science Play picture books, especially the one about gravity, I Fall Down. Any other recommendations for books or other resources?
