It is our intent at some point to do . . . something . . . with the interior walls and doors in our house to keep Anthony from damaging them when he has a tantrum. We learned early on that repairing drywall was a futile exercise because Anthony targets again the same spots. To spite us, perhaps? It seems that way.

My wife came up with the intermediate strategy of covering holes with pictures, paintings, and--to create balance where it would otherwise not exist--handmade wall coverings and organizers.


We have new holes in Anthony's bedroom and door today, however, after a particularly bad stretch wherein he was determined to not only pull stickers from library books but rip covers off some of our own nicer books as well. My wife dragged him to his room and managed to keep the door closed for a bit against his wishes. She could hear him banging his head against the door and wall, but decided that was temporarily preferable to the alternative.

He turned his pulling and ripping obsession toward his wall after creating holes. We now have a few swaths of drywall with multiple layers pulled off. At least they are not visible to the casual visitor.