What were your kids NOT able to do until an embarrassingly late age?

[scrapquitler]

Oh, I'll mention the other thing that sets both my kids aside as 'weird'. Though they both did gymnastics and dance, neither one of them has ever played a team sport, and neither can really throw, catch, hit or kick a ball of any sort. And neither one of them ever had any interest in doing so.

 

[Magpie]

My poor DD is not sports-inclined either! She runs like an awkward duck LOL She has tried so many different sports and just doesn't do well in pretty much any of them!

DS10 had a very hard time reading in early elementary. He was in reading advisory until 2nd grade. Turned out, he hated the timed-reading tests they measured with - he would get all nervous knowing he was being timed, and the first time he stumbled on a word/sound, that would be it - he could not get himself to focus and get back on track. So his test scores were always well below grade level. The reading specialist never wanted to try testing him differently.

But he always understood EVERYTHING he read silently and could answer questions and comprehend it. he could even pull out little details. It finally dawned on me that it was those tests- but I was never really able to prove it to the school - by the time I really started noticing (once he started picking up chapter books) he was in 3rd grade and the timed tests were done.

But my point is - sometimes it IS the teaching method. But not because you sucked LOL It's all about the kids and how they choose to process it! And, sometimes, it really does just "click" one day, no matter what we do!

As someone who teaches reading to kids, let me just say that "reading specialist" was not deserving of their name. That's the kind of nonsense that convinces kids they "can't" read and prevents them from making progress. Even our public school system emphasizes multiple methods of assessment!

(I don't like timed tests anyway. I want to know exactly where the child is having difficulty. Is it the vowels? Can they chunk syllables? Do they know all their phonemes? How about those sight words, the ones that don't follow the rules? Once they've mastered the code, speed takes care of itself.)

 

[TEENEE]

Is a baby too young to join in? Our 7-month-old won't sleep in his crib in his own room; he's still in our room in an infant-to-toddler napper. We've been trying, but he wakes up screaming within 20 minutes of being put down. After a couple of hours of going in and comforting him, without picking him up, our own fatigue gives in and we bring him back to our room, where he promptly falls asleep and stays asleep until morning.

It is partly my fault - I had read in the SIDS prevention guides that the baby should sleep with you until about six months. And then, he's never liked sleeping in a big flat space. He hated the bassinet from day one - he wouldn't even sleep in the hospital bassinet for more than 30 minutes. I've tried the pack-and-play all along, as a kind of bridge between the little napper and big crib - nope, he wakes up and screams in that, too. So I can see him not being able to sleep alone until at least his first birthday!

When my son was a baby he suddenly stopped sleeping through the night. We lived in an apartment with thin walls. He shared a wall with the baby in the next apartment. That baby was a little younger and still woke up for a nightly feeding. The baby would cry and wake up my son. We moved his crib to a different part of the room, problem solved. Maybe your baby is hearing something too.

 

[JBeaty0507]

Um...I don't have kids, but I feel like I should note, that I CANNOT whistle (at all!)......and I'm 27 with a Master's degree. This is not due to my mom's lack of trying as she is an excellent whistler and she tries still sometimes to this day to try to teach me.....it isn't happening at this point.

 

[Magpie]

Um...I don't have kids, but I feel like I should note, that I CANNOT whistle (at all!)......and I'm 27 with a Master's degree. This is not due to my mom's lack of trying as she is an excellent whistler and she tries still sometimes to this day to try to teach me.....it isn't happening at this point.

I was thirty before I learned to snap my fingers... now I'm not sure why it was so difficult to learn.

 

[Poohforyou]

Oh, I'll mention the other thing that sets both my kids aside as 'weird'. Though they both did gymnastics and dance, neither one of them has ever played a team sport, and neither can really throw, catch, hit or kick a ball of any sort. And neither one of them ever had any interest in doing so.

My dd has never played a sport either and pretty much can't do anything athletic. She did take karate and dance for a few years.

She hates gym and I used to let her skip field day in elementary school because it was torture for her - she would have rather done standardized testing that day!

 

[powellrj]

When my oldest was in the 3rd grade he walked around with uncombed hair, undone pants and untied shoes. I got tired of fighting it and got him slip on shoe, a buzz cut and elastic waist pants. He is now 32 and can fasten pants and tie shoes, but is bald so he still doesn't have to comb his hair.

 

[Turn the Page]

For everyone who is right handed and trying to teach a left handed person something try sitting directly across from them. If they are looking straight ahead at you, while teaching them to tie their shoes for example, they can exactly mirror your movements which can make it a lot simpler to learn.

I'm a lefty and sometimes trying to learn how to do something like that while simultaneously reversing the movements in your head can be really confusing.

DD9 (only 6 days left of her first decade, I feel old) but she does still believe in Santa Clause. Two Christmases ago I decided to stop trying to work to keep her from finding out, I would just do whatever DD5 needed to keep HER believing and if DD9 found out, oh well. I thought for sure she would figure it out this year. We got the kids an air hockey table for Christmas and that was their gift from Santa. There was a bit of a comedy of errors regarding picking up the table and finding a place to store it where they wouldn't see it before Christmas and it ended up being in my SIL's car for a few days where my DN12 saw it and at the family Christmas party a few days after Christmas commented that the table hadn't come from Santa because it was in their car for a few days. I thought that was it as DD9 commented that the table wasn't from Santa because DN12 said it was in her car. She never did put two and two together though.

She knows the Disney characters and such aren't real, knows TV, movie, and book characters aren't real but still buys the Santa and Toothfairy lines.

Her biological father once told me he believed in Santa until he was 15 but he was not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed. I would think in the next year or two one of her friends at school will tell her or someone will start teasing her about it.

 

[Magpie]

For everyone who is right handed and trying to teach a left handed person something try sitting directly across from them. If they are looking straight ahead at you, while teaching them to tie their shoes for example, they can exactly mirror your movements which can make it a lot simpler to learn.

I'm a lefty and sometimes trying to learn how to do something like that while simultaneously reversing the movements in your head can be really confusing.

DD9 (only 6 days left of her first decade, I feel old) but she does still believe in Santa Clause. Two Christmases ago I decided to stop trying to work to keep her from finding out, I would just do whatever DD5 needed to keep HER believing and if DD9 found out, oh well. I thought for sure she would figure it out this year. We got the kids an air hockey table for Christmas and that was their gift from Santa. There was a bit of a comedy of errors regarding picking up the table and finding a place to store it where they wouldn't see it before Christmas and it ended up being in my SIL's car for a few days where my DN12 saw it and at the family Christmas party a few days after Christmas commented that the table hadn't come from Santa because it was in their car for a few days. I thought that was it as DD9 commented that the table wasn't from Santa because DN12 said it was in her car. She never did put two and two together though.

She knows the Disney characters and such aren't real, knows TV, movie, and book characters aren't real but still buys the Santa and Toothfairy lines.

Her biological father once told me he believed in Santa until he was 15 but he was not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed. I would think in the next year or two one of her friends at school will tell her or someone will start teasing her about it.

Hey, I'm in my 40's and I still believe in Santa!

For me, it's all in how you define "Santa". No, I don't think there's an actual literal fat man living at the North Pole who breaks into my house every Christmas eve to give me presents, but then again... I don't think God is an old beardy guy perched on a cloud watching my every move, either.

Come Christmas, I happily wear my "I heart Santa!" tee.

Oh... and that reminds me of one of the best interactions I had at the Magic Kingdom! I was wearing my Santa tee, and an old man sitting with his grandson waved me over and asked, "Miss, do you believe in Santa?" And I said (truthfully), "You bet I do!" He to his grandson and said, "You see? I knew she did, because of the t-shirt. There's lots of adults who believe in Santa! You don't have to give up on him, just because you're growing up."

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My 16 yo can, not well but she can do it. The funniest thing is she goes by a nickname of her middle name and often can't remember how to spell her legal name.

Oh. Just a suggestion for those with kids struggling to learn to swim and/or ride a bike, if you know any responsible teens see if one of them would be willing to work with your child. We did this with dd and it worked like a charm.

We couldn't reach either DD to ride a bike. They both learned from my parents - DD15 not until she was 12.

In fairness, we don't really have anywhere to ride a bike at home. My (retired) parents have a nice, flat, paved bike trail near their house.

 

[HM]

My husband in left handed and I'm right handed. We were having trouble teaching our kids to tie their shoes and realized that we both do it differently. So, it was decided that my husband would be the only teacher (even though our kids are righties). It went a lot better after that.

 

[Kenny1113]

My 13 year old son still can't tie his shoes well enough that they stay tied for more than about 10 steps.

Haha! This is my younger DS too! I have watched him numerous times, I have no idea what he is doing wrong.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Oh... and that reminds me of one of the best interactions I had at the Magic Kingdom! I was wearing my Santa tee, and an old man sitting with his grandson waved me over and asked, "Miss, do you believe in Santa?" And I said (truthfully), "You bet I do!" He to his grandson and said, "You see? I knew she did, because of the t-shirt. There's lots of adults who believe in Santa! You don't have to give up on him, just because you're growing up."

 

[DopeyDame]

Um...I don't have kids, but I feel like I should note, that I CANNOT whistle (at all!)......and I'm 27 with a Master's degree. This is not due to my mom's lack of trying as she is an excellent whistler and she tries still sometimes to this day to try to teach me.....it isn't happening at this point.

Me neither! And you aren't alone. I watched a video of an astronaut in the middle of a space walk trying to whistle. The other astronaut asked what that noise was, and the first astronaut said he wanted to see if he could whistle in space... because he couldn't whistle down on earth.

 

[mamacatnv]

Both kids had pacifiers until they were 4
DS potty trained at 4, DD 3.5
There was a busy intersection near our house where there was a convenience store, I never allowed DS to walk to and cross that street on foot/bike, it was too scary. The first time he crossed that street by himself was when he got a license and drove himself.
DD has no rhythm, she took BEGINNING ballet for 3 years - 3 years of recitals where she ALWAYS turned the wrong direction. We still tease her to this day.
DD can't figure out driving, she can't manage to turn. Something about the foot/hand motion just stumps her.
DD is a brainiac and yet, she can never remember any of our phone numbers, without her phone and the preprogrammed buttons she is completely lost.

 

[GaryDis]

For those of you with kids who have trouble tying shoelaces, there's hope. Expensive hope.

 

[PlutoRocks]

Um...I don't have kids, but I feel like I should note, that I CANNOT whistle (at all!)......and I'm 27 with a Master's degree. This is not due to my mom's lack of trying as she is an excellent whistler and she tries still sometimes to this day to try to teach me.....it isn't happening at this point.

Same here - I'm 46 and have never been able to whistle - I just can't figure it out. People have tried but it just doesn't happen. Oh well - i've made it this far without it so I guess I'm gonna be alright

 

[smiths02]

I'm in the process of teaching my 50something year old mom to learn to drive. She's never had a permit before a few month's ago

I still don't know how to ride a bike (in my 30s)

My 9 year old (almost 10) can't swim or ride a bike. The swimming, I have tried, but we hit anxiety...and then I had twins 3.5 years ago and getting to a class or pool has been difficult. I can't teach him how to ride a bike and DH is so busy with his job (lots of OT and some out of town stuff) and the twins that it is impossible. My 9 year old also can't blow his nose...a nurse friend told me that wasn't that weird, but it bothers DH.

 

[*3*Mouseketeers]

DS19 couldn't get himself up in the morning until he started college. It's a miracle! LOL All through Jr. High and High school I would have to call him on the phone repeatedly (I am at work early) or his sister would try to wake him up. It would take and hour or more. There have been times I have come home from work and dumped a little water on him (oooohhhh, he HATED that! ...but it worked!) I can't tell you how many times he was tardy for 1st period. My DD is 7 years younger and he used to walk her to school until he made her late a couple times and then she started leaving him and walking herself. (We live 5 houses from the school) Now that he is in college he gets himself up and leaves 2 hours before his first class. (we live an hour from the University and he has Tuesday and Thursday classes).

He learned to tie his shoes early, but he got in a habit of wearing Crocs to school 2nd through 4th grade. When he finally got regular sneakers, I guess I tied them the first day of school because we were in a hurry or something, but he came home and said "Mom. I'm so embarrassed. My shoe came untied and I forgot how to time my shoes and some 2nd grade GIRL had to time them for me!" LOL

 

[VandVsmama]

My 7.5 yr old still can't quite manage to wipe her butt very well. I clean a lot of underwear as a result. It's the final frontier of potty training and I think that I should have a party once she finally figures it out.

Neither kid (7.5 & 9.5 yr olds) know how to ride a bike without training wheels. We just haven't taken the time to do it. Between homework, swim practice, dinner, and getting ready for the next day, there is no time left over.

I cannot whistle and I've tried many times.

7.5 yr old finally just mastered tieing shoe laces.