Fear of Heights - the Wii factor!

Children and cats have a lot in common. They learn and want to climb things, and they also find it difficult to get down from wherever they've climbed. 

Another similarity is that it's almost impossible to herd them - keep them in certain areas without fencing them off. Try asking a 1-2 year old to stay in an area of the room without any barricades and you might as well be talking to a cat. Well, I might have stumbled upon a temporary solution!

Emily is copying her sister by trying to climb anything and everything possible. This is just following after sister, which is great and is also very good for her balance - up to a point. I occasionally get the shouts for help when she's climbed up onto something that she hasn't worked out how to get down from (or even forgotten how to do it.)

The most common shout comes after she's climbed onto one of Alice's play chairs. These are less than knee-high, but Emily really does like to climb them -either to reach something like a tomato in the kitchen or just for the sake of it. But sometimes she "forgets" how to climb down - then comes the shout for help.

However, just the other day I discovered her new limit for her fear of heights. She had "climbed" onto the Wii Fit board (about 2 inches high) and had got stuck - when everyone had left the room there she remained and shouted for help to get down. 

I can't say I'll use this as a herding/control technique but it could be useful in case of emergency - at least until she works it out!