Buttonitis (Kaftoritis)

My mother always says there are children with a talent for buttons and switches (the so called “Kaftoritis” children, from the word “Kaftor”, which means button in Hebrew) and children who don't/ There are children that are naturally interested in anything that can be pressed, turning a light on, and there are children who are not. Jonathan belongs to the first group.

He is truly talented when it comes to the remote control, the computer mouse and the TV switch. Turning on the light is a special treat for him too. A true Buttonitis (English for Kaftoritis, the same principle...) child will do almost anything to get to a button or a switch. Switching on the stereo in my husbands room is a staple for Jonathan, and suddenly there is loud music in the house. The has also learned to turn on the TV long ago, and to control the volume buttons. At my mother's house its the dishwasher that was his first victim, and recently he has also discovered the stereo there too, inside a cabinet! Even after a few weeks absence, as soon as we get to my mother's house he goes either to the stereo cabinet or to the other cupboard with the keys he loves so much!

He has always known how to hold the remote control, and has always delighted himself when something suddenly changed when he pressed the buttons on it. He even knows how to point it to the TV and obviously understands there is some sort of connection between he remote and the TV. He still however does not really get any results with the remote, but that is a matter of time only, and he has another solution to that problem, as you will read later. The computer mouse is a favorite, and he has the correct grip as if born with it! He even clicks it correctly and loves to move it about and see the arrow wriggle on the screen. The computer itself is also a much loved object! As the laptop is on a table and he cannot reach it when alone, he stands on the floor and uses the mouse and thus enjoys it even when not able to press the keys. He loves the phone because when you press the buttons it makes funny sounds, mobile phones have also lighted display screens! Cool! He has registered that one puts an apparatus with buttons to one's ear and talks to it, and thus even a pocket calculator becomes a phone is Jonathan's able hands. He mimics the phoning position to perfection!

Jonathan is however becoming even more clever in his button passion. Like a true Buttonitis child he improves his methods and thus can get to even more switches. He has recently learned o climb on his chair. So he pushes the chair about the house to a desired location, then climbs and stands on it and so he is tall enough to reach even the higher light switches in the house! Much to his delight! He uses the same system to get to the microwave and to the satellite control unit – which means now that he not only can turn the TV on, he now can also change channels! We have been raising things higher to avoid his reaching them, but we really cannot go much higher anymore and when he stands on a chair he is truly tall! After delighting as parents in his advanced climbing abilities we now have to start setting restrictions so he will not be impossible to control!
One day we found him on the living room table, on her table was a stool and Jonathan was standing on it! My husband almost had a heart attack! We try to show him when climbing objects is good (like to climb a chair and SIT on it, not stand on it, so he can eat with adults near the big table). For Jonathan a whole new world has become available, for us a parents, a whole new task or setting its limits.