Did Caylee Have Any Playmates?

[OneLostGrl]

quote "Originally Posted by FightTheOstrich
right, i think you misinterpreted what i said. since Caylee wouldn't have had the fine motor skills to color in the lines, she should not have been given coloring books. at least this is what i learned when i studied early childhood development in relation to art. when i see parents of young children purchasing coloring books for their toddlers, i just want to smack them out of their hands. the other thing that drives me nuts, when children make turkeys out of their hands. let them draw a turkey, let them use their imagination. who cares if it looks like a turkey.
of course she would have needed help getting dressed but what two year old doesn't want to pick out what she is going to wear???? '

I hope your kidding, because this is the craziest thing I've heard.
I bring my kids to the swimming, they are not Phelps, should I not let them swim?
I let them use play doh, they are not Michalangelo, should I stop them?
Also my oldest drives, she is not Jeff Gordon, maybe I should take away her license.
Who ever taught you this nonsense needs their teaching license yanked!

s

hahaha

 

[FightTheOstrich]

quote "Originally Posted by FightTheOstrich
right, i think you misinterpreted what i said. since Caylee wouldn't have had the fine motor skills to color in the lines, she should not have been given coloring books. at least this is what i learned when i studied early childhood development in relation to art. when i see parents of young children purchasing coloring books for their toddlers, i just want to smack them out of their hands. the other thing that drives me nuts, when children make turkeys out of their hands. let them draw a turkey, let them use their imagination. who cares if it looks like a turkey.
of course she would have needed help getting dressed but what two year old doesn't want to pick out what she is going to wear???? '

I hope your kidding, because this is the craziest thing I've heard.
I bring my kids to the swimming, they are not Phelps, should I not let them swim?
I let them use play doh, they are not Michalangelo, should I stop them?
Also my oldest drives, she is not Jeff Gordon, maybe I should take away her license.
Who ever taught you this nonsense needs their teaching license yanked!

s

i think you completely misunderstood what i said. children should have the opportunity to be truly creative. your response doesn't make any sense to me at all. parents should provide glue, tissue paper, construction paper, paints, etc... so that children have the opportunity to really create and use their imagination. coloring books are fine, but they limit creativity and should only be used in moderation. i would much rather see my child draw the star she imagines in her head then color a star someone else drew. i don't understand your analogy at all-maybe you should try again so it makes more sense. my toddler swims, dives, sails, kayaks, tubes, bikes, etc... what the heck does this have to do w/ coloring books and creativity???

 

[gitana1]

Good day care can be very expensive, I don't think Casey had the money to pay for it. Children at 2 are just learning to play with and cooperate with other children. There are many 2 year olds who have little contact with children their own age. If Caylee had been a little older the lack of play pals would have concerned me. At 2 it's not such a big deal, IMO. She got lots of attention and play with Cindy and George.

I agree with this. Many two year olds are raised at home, no pre-school or daycare and sometimes not much regularinteraction with other kids. had Caylee lived another year, that would have become more important but at two, kids still are involved in what is called "parallel play" in which they play next to other kids their age but do not interact with one another much, in the same way that older children do. Caylee was likely just beginning to become more social at the age when she was killed.

As far as separation anxiety, posters are right, that is common in some kids around that age, but usually only when left in the care of another. And acutally, I think Caylee was at an age where she would be moving out of that stage. My instinct about that was that she could feel her mother did not love her as she should. She did not feel the bond or emotional attachment from her mom but needed that from casey. So, she was clingy. That is common behavior in children who are emotionally neglected.

 

[Marple]

i think you completely misunderstood what i said. children should have the opportunity to be truly creative. your response doesn't make any sense to me at all. parents should provide glue, tissue paper, construction paper, paints, etc... so that children have the opportunity to really create and use their imagination. coloring books are fine, but they limit creativity and should only be used in moderation. i would much rather see my child draw the star she imagines in her head then color a star someone else drew. i don't understand your analogy at all-maybe you should try again so it makes more sense. my toddler swims, dives, sails, kayaks, tubes, bikes, etc... what the heck does this have to do w/ coloring books and creativity???

I think it was probably your remark about smacking a coloring book out of a parent's hands that didn't make sense to other posters. Rare is the child who only experiences coloring books and doesn't resort to walls, floors and other media when exploring their creative side.

 

[BondJamesBond]

Specific to the topic of the thread, I saw one other poster mention it...

Caylee played with Kristina C.'s kids.

Although it wasn't crystal clear, I found evidence in the cell logs that suggests Caylee may have had playdates with Kristina's children ~once/week. Again, it isn't solid, but, wouldn't be inconsistent w/ Kristina's statements.

Caylee spent her days w/ either Casey or Cindy & George. I thought it unusual that there weren't any neighbors nearby that had come forward saying their kids played with Caylee and had insight into the family dynamics. It is almost impossible to live in a neighborhood where other children of the same age live and the kids NOT end up playing together just a little. Perhaps there aren't other children of the same age nearby OR they decided not to come forward and insert themselves in the media circus.

Appears, w/ Kristina being the exception, that Casey didn't have/seek girlfriends that had kids...that her narcissitic ways made her partying more important than considering Caylee's happiness...just another example of her priorities.

 

[txmama]

Thank you Magic Cat.

I'm a stay at home mom of young children. My children don't have a lot of play dates. But we are very involved in church and they go 3 times a week. But up until they turned 3 there wasn't much point in play dates because they do "parallel play". I don't find Caylee's lack of friends that odd at her age. When kids are 2 going to the store is a big social outting. Have you ever watched 2 y/o's at a store? They wave to each other. They 'flirt' with adults. But yet they are confident because mom (or dad or gma, etc...) is right there with them. They are learning valuable social skills in what you and I would see as 'running errands', for them, those are adventures! Around 3-3 1/2 they start to form relationships with other children they play with regularly but before that they're just playing in a room that other kids are in also.

In another year, yes, it would have been odd. Very odd. She would have talked about her friends to GA & CA A LOT. Mine are constantly talking about their friends, real and imaginary.