I know of parents who have been brought to their knees by the "Terrible Twos". Personally, I think the "Twos" were a snap compared with the current phase in my household, something I like to call "Science and Scissors".

"Science and Scissors" is a period of intense exploration and experimentation. Will the scissors that should be used on construction paper cut hair as well? Amazingly enough, they do. Will mixing vinegar and baking soda cause an eruption just like a volcano? Yes again. Is the back of your clothes closet the perfect place for a mad scientist's laboratory? If you are between six and nine years old, it is.

What does this have to do with adoption from Russia? "Science and Scissors" isn't by any means limited to adopted kids; I spent a very funny half hour last summer comparing notes on this phase with the head of a tech venture in Baltimore. Here's why I'm writing: As far as I can see, all those warnings about the delayed development of kids adopted from Russia are pretty much moot when it comes to "Science and Scissors". The "what if" questions kick in, and off they go.

Here's how it has played out in my house: An intense period of making paper snowflakes. My older son, who came to America at 18 months, went through several packs of construction paper, and much of the newspaper I stack up for recycling. It was cute; we gave away lots of paper snowflakes as presents. But then he turned his scissoring attention to a pile of very expensive Indonesian batiks that I had painstakingly collected for a quilt.

My younger son, who arrived here just short of his fifth birthday 18 months ago, has given himself two creative haircuts that left more than a few bald spots. We're not the only ones that have had this happen: Check out this recent post called "Self-Imposed Haircuts" on the blog "Six Blessings", which chronicles a family that adopted five-year-old twin boys from Russia in July 2006.

And there have been enough drains clogged by creative combinations that I have the plumbing chapter of Dare To Repair almost committed to memory. (This do-it-herself book was co-authored by Stephanie Glakas-Tenet, who learned her fixit skills while her husband, George Tenet, was away on business--for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.)

But I've been able to pretty much forgive it all (except for the batiks). Anything that shows my kids on par developmentally with their peers is just grand.