Problem with Scissors

ok, I as a child was obsessed with cutting things. I knew it was wrong and didn't care...it was fun. At school I would constantly cut little pieces of paper into confetti, and I even cut up my own toys.....cause I thought it was fun. As a previous cutter I would strongly advise you REMOVE the scissors. That is the only thing that will work.....promise. When she gets older she wont be so bad.....and she will be able to understand what to cut and what not too.......
I kind of giggle as I type because I always thought I was the only one who did this. One thing though that my grandma did helped though. I found a knife (keep those up too) on the table and used it to cut a gouge into the side of the table. Major no-no. So my grandma very nicely asked me to get her my favorite toy..she wanted to see it. At the time it was a my little pony. So I brought it to her and she commented on how nice it was....then out of nowhere her comes the scissors....SHE CUT OFF IT'S FOOT......I was devastated. But I never cut again. lol.
Good luck....
T.

As a former pre-k & kindergarten teacher, I can tell you that she is practicing her cutting skills. I agree you should put the scissors out of reach and allow her supervised opportunities to practice cutting various materials. One of the favorite materials that my student's and 2 oldest loved to cut is playdough. They could spend hours just sitting & cutting, mashing it back together to cut it apart somemore. I would also provide different materials for her to cut such as the playdough, sandpaper, yarn, pipe cleaners, egg cartons, old magazines(pictures that start with the B letter sounds, anything red, people, words, etc). I would offer these materials on different days of course and then give her the opportunity to create an art picture or collage.

I took them away for a year. at 4.5 my daughter cut all of her hair to her collar bone~yeah they were taken away for LONG TIME!!!!! She knows how to use them she does not need to practice!

Put them where she cant find them or get to them.Only get them out for her and stay with her when using them...good luck
S. B

HAVE YOU TRIED TO PUT ALL THE SCISSORS AWAY WHERE SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE? ALSO, TRY TO PUT THEM IN A LOCK BOX. SHE WILL HAVE TO ASK TO USE THEM. I AM A HAIR STYLIST (19yrs) I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT 8 OUT OF 10 KIDS WILL CUT THEIR HAIR.

At 4.5 yrs old they know right from wrong. She seems to enjoy using the scissors.. if this is true allow her daily usage which has to be supervised at all times. Remember to put the scissors up or hide them make her go to her room or tell her to go potty or something so you can hide them as if not she will remember and get them on her own...

reward her for the great behavior when using the scissors like a big girl.
Display the ART work that she has done as well, this will make her proud of her work and how she behaved using the scissors. :)

You could give some of the art work away to grandparents who will display it etc...

Maybe too do Mosaic type of work cutting small colored sheets of paper and then gluing it to make a picture... give her old magazines to cut out things, people, food, animals, words.. etc.

E.:

you have a hannah on your hands! she is my 8 year old and the youngest of 4 - she has 3 older brothers! stubborn and sneaky are her middle names! get yourself a small lock box and put the scissors in there. i know that will be aggravating for you, but it will be beneficial for your daughter! don't allow her to have the scissors unless you are sitting right there with her and then take the scissors from her and put them in the lock box. hope this helps! i wish i could say the stubborn streak will get better but so far it hasn't for us!

Oh!! I think I have your daughters twin in my house! you want her back?? LOL, I finally just got rid of the scissors. She has some plastic (do not cut) ones that came in a doctors kit and I gave her those instead. SHe was mad they do not cut but oh well. Nothing else was working and like you said, mine is a little sneak too. We'd be cutting, La-la-la, and the next thing I know she's be snipping off a piece of hair before I could finish saying "STOP". I have even caught her using nail clippers to cut her hair. Hee hee...maybe I have a future stylist on my hands ;)

you said she's 4-1/2? i would just take the scissors away and tell her that she's not responsible enough to have scissors unsupervised, and that i will give her the scissors when it is convenient for *me* (to supervise her). my ds was the same way when he was little, but i forgot what it was about. markers, i think.
anyway, good luck!
P.

well,,not sure what to tell you about your daughter and the scissor thing, but my son got a hold of scissors when he was in the first grade and cut his own hair (omg) so, I told him if he wanted his haircut so bad I would take care of it. I shaved his head bald-had no choice from the self-cut, he gave himself. He didn't exactly take too kindly to me shaving his head and having to go to school like that, but, he never picked up the scissors again, to cut his own hair!!!!

Get a cheap art set (I think we got ours at Wal-Mart I don't remember though, it may have been a Christmas or B-Day gift LOL), they have scissors in there that are plastic, and will ONLY cut paper, no hair cut, and both you and your child is happy.. somewhat LOL

Sounds like she can't be trusted to use scissors without being supervised the whole time. My eldest is 3 1/2 and our scissors are always out of reach, but he has loved cutting from an early age, so he has his own pair and I bought him the Kumon cutting books. I actually can trust him to cut alone now, but the rule is that scissors never leave the table and they're only for paper. If he wants to cut anything else, string, ribbon, etc., he has to ask first. If he doesn't follow those rules, I put the scissors away immediately. That means I have to stick close by and keep an eye on him, but he loves to cut so much that he's pretty good about following the rules. Start out watching her like a hawk and sitting next to her, then let her earn your trust back slowly.

Do you think her rebellion w/ scissors could be a reaction for feeling like she has little control in her life because of her diabetes?

Just a thought.

If it is a possibility, I'd try to create situations where she has more control, Like offering her three choices of whatever (Lunch/clothes/activity) Only offer ones you approve of, but let her make the decision. That might give her back some control in her life...

Sounds as if she has a particular fascination with scissors, so she might as well learn to use them properly. Put her in a restricted place (high chair, table, etc) and give her scissors and let her cut lots of different textures for a while (old clothes, paper towels, an old doll's hair, along lines/outlines drawn on paper, etc). Praise her for the nice 'mess' she's making, have her help clean it up, and say, "Now, wasn't that fun? Scissors are a wonderful tool when we learn to use them correctly!" I had to do this with sharp knives when our (now 28 yr. old) son was about 2 or less. I said, "You'll cut yourself." He said, "No, I won't!" So I put him in his highchair with a sharp knife (our family always keeps sharp knives as my dad made them for us) and a stick of raw rhubarb! He cut away for a while, then exclaimed (not even crying), "I cut myself!" It taught him a nice, healthy respect for the dangers and responsibilities of household implements!

Good luck and God bless!
P.S. I just read most of your other responses, and loved the 'play dough' suggestion (but wouldn't recommend cutting sandpaper and pipecleaners unless you want all your scissors ruined). If she's really 'into' scissors, I think you should teach her HOW TO USE them properly instead of 'punishing' her by making her live WITHOUT them. Also loved the Grandma's table/My Little Pony story! That's a winner!

tie twist ties around the closed blades when you are not using them- this will give you at least a head start on catching her in the act :)

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I've had the same problem with my 6 yo son, who cut his shirt during school one day. He made many holes and I'm very grateful that the shirt was old and quickly becoming too small. His teachers took away his scissors and when they gave them back, he felt it was important enough to remember to cut paper not his clothes. Using scissors is an important skill and also teaches responsibility. Just because removing the scissors once didn't work, doesn't mean it won't eventually be effective. A. Burnette, Hillsborough, NC

I don't mean this to sound rude or anything, BUT.... You didn't say what type of scissors she is allowed to use... but I would never even allow a 4 1/2 year old to have scissors, unless it would be the plastic school scissors, in which they would not be able to do much damage with. There is even a risk that a small child could fall on sharp scissors. Her behavior only shows that she is not responsible enough to know how to respect them. I would definately take the scissors away from her, until she is old enough to know the proper uses of them, and to realize that scissors are not toys.
Good luck!

Are you kidding me? Lock the scissors away and only let her use them in your presence. or give her some crappy plastic ones. Let her know she cannot be trusted with real ones and until she can be trusted again she gets the plastic ones that will only cut paper. I know it sounds harsh but so is putting out an eye or cutting something that cannot be replaced.

I would say only give her access to kids scissors that only cut minimal things...being 4 1/2 I am sure there are many places you can put the adult pairs that she cannot reach or climb to even with the highest levels of sneaky...
Kids pairs certainly cannot cut hair or canvas...give her other crafty things to do that don't take this kind of tool. Have her tear paper and do fun collages or mosaics that don't take adult tools....channel her energy in another direction and maybe the issue will go away...when I was 7 or 8 years old my best friend and I redesigned all of our dolls hair, much to the unhappiness of our mothers...have fun and turn it into a creative adventure...

dont give them back until shes 6 and in school. tell her she doesnt know how to behave with them and so she can just cut her paper instead of use the sissors

Just make them inaccessible to her. If she can't get to them, then she can't be destructive with them. Reintroduce them when she starts kindergarten, but even then unless you're doing a project with her, keep them out of reach.