At first your infant can't do anything. Not a single thing. Okay, they can eat, sleep, cry and make glorious messes in their diapers. But that's about it. As they get older they iterate through layers of independence, ending ultimately in taking care of their own parents who have lost their own independence due to age.
Today was one of those independence milestones. My son, out of the blue, said, "I want to go to Chuck E. Cheese!" We've been there before, I think twice. But it's been a good long time and I have no idea how he remembered the place or the name. (Toddler memory is both astounding and confounding.) I was looking for something to do this afternoon since our pool has been closed due to a downed phone line. I said, "what a great idea. Let's all go to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch!" This was met with cries of happiness and an almost uncanny willingness to go to the potty, find and put on shoes by my children.
When we arrived I ordered food and this time, I didn't worry about them wandering off. They stamp parent and children with a hand stamp there and you can't leave without your matching stamped parent. So I let them run off and I calmly got our drinks, selected our usual table and prepared everything for our food to arrive. Then I went to look for them.
All games and rides take one single token. Some came with our meal. I gave my children one each and watched as I made sure they knew how to insert them into the machines. They spent quite some time on a car with a steering wheel that lurched back and forth while they did a dreadful job of picking up the coins and fruit on the screen in front of them.
Our food arrived and I called them over. They ate some and then ran off again to play in the play structure. I checked email and looked up after a few minutes to see if they were okay. I noticed they'd taken their shoes off as required and were still in the tube and slide play area.
In a while they came back and ate some more. I asked them if they wanted more coins. I showed my son how he could put one in his pocket and hold one in his hand. He liked that. They went off and drove Bob the Builder's truck for a while and then came back with two tickets and a printout of some child's picture from another ride.
This went on for a good while: eating, climbing in the play structure, asking for a coin, coming back and telling me something that happened. I checked on them fairly regularly but they were having fun and managing things all by themselves.
We were there for nearly three hours. I lured them out with the promise of a "prize" with their meager collection of tickets. (The prize counter was at the front, near the exit.) It was a lot of fun for them. I liked watching them be independent.
The Big Boy Update: With my son's recent rigidity issues, we have a place he can go to help him become calm. I decided to remove the child protective door knob on the closet in their bedroom. There are clothes in there and a lot of books, but otherwise, it's just a walk-in closet that's carpeted. He can sit on the floor and pull books off the shelf, looking at the pictures. He likes to do this. It is almost always calming. I called it his, "safe place" when I took him there the first time but he immediately renamed it and said, "this is my quiet place. I can be loud out there." We'll see how it works out and if it helps over time.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter likes the word "dinosaur". She repeated for no apparent reason for several days. Now, if you say "dinosaur" to her, she will almost always smile and repeat it back to you.
Fitness Update: I ran ten miles today. After the bonking of last weekend I was worried, so I ate a second dinner before bed and when I woke up at four in the morning, I ate two breakfast bars and drank something to hydrate myself. Before running out the door I drank a Gatorade. I was fine. I'm glad I didn't forget how to run.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
The Free Sale
We didn't have a yard sale today, we had a free sale. It's a lot like a yard sale, only everything is free. Come to our house at eight AM and if it's in our driveway, feel free to take it. No, please, don't make me bring all this stuff back into the house. You know you need my old, used stuff. It's yours.
It all started with one of my, "how did we get so many toys?" comments. Then, I decided we were not only going to rearrange the children's toys (putting some up and bringing others out as "new"). This time, we were going to go through every single last bit of stuff and we were going to get rid of things. Lots of things, because we had more than the children needed.
My husband helps me with these things, and he does a good job, but it's not his favorite thing to do. When I told him we were taking every single toy, game and kid thing and putting it into one room in our house to evaluate, I know he mentally gave me an evil eye. But he helped. When we saw how much stuff we really had, my husband said, "we need to get rid of fifty-percent of these toys."
We decided what to keep because it was still age-relavant and what to keep because it was sentimental to us or them as they grew. We selected things to keep that were some of the best toys for younger ages in case we had visiting babies or toddlers. The relevant things went to various corners of the house where the children have their toy areas (toys have homes and do not belong all over the house). We took the other items and stored them in the attic appropriately.
And we selected things to go. Lots of things to go. Thank goodness we have that extra bay in the garage because there were lots of things heading into the garage. As we went into the attic, we made decisions about not-toy things that we didn't need either. Bottles? A must go. Boppy pillow? Bumbo seat? Infant car seat? They all got put in the growing mound in the garage. And that's when I had the idea—let's have a free sale.
We have many, many parents with lots of small children in our neighborhood. We also have lots of pregnant moms. Wouldn't it be great if we could share out things with our neighborhood friends and neighbors? So I sent out an email to everyone.
Today was our free sale. I offered a, "free helium balloon to any child that takes home a stuffed animal," in the hopes we'd her rid of some of that pile. Few stuffed animals went home, but lots of balloons did with smiling children.
We had multiple pregnant mothers who were grateful for the pregnancy, infant and baby things we had to share. We had two non-functioning slot machines my neighbor gladly took off our hands and one mom who wanted to get back into shape that claimed our treadmill. So many things going to happy families.
Oh, and I forgot to mention my husband's idea. He suggested I say any donations would go to our children's school. We had a jar out and there was quite a bit of money put into it from generous families.
Several people said they'd love to do this too in the future. I think we're going to plan a neighborhood free sale day at some point next year. What a fun sight that would be...free stuff in every driveway.
The Big Boy Update: My son has been having some adjustment issues with his new school classroom and routine. He's holding it together at school and doing well, but when he gets home, he has a need for routine, regularity and known expectations. My husband and I are not ones for routine and regularity. We are reasonably regular, but we don't do dinner at the exact same time each day. We might go out to dinner to any number of restaurants or eat in. There may be playing in the yard with neighbors before or after dinner or it might be reading books or playing a game or watching television. We vary. My son needs "regular" and not "random" right now and his reaction is to try and control everything and everyone. To the outsider or untrained, it seems like he's losing his mind and throwing tantrums. Hell, it looks like that way to us too. We're trying to help him through this tough time. We appreciate all the advice we've been given from his teachers and our friends with knowledge about childhood development.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: This is a pattern that happens in our house a lot... My daughter begins crying, screaming or both a room or two over. My husband or I come into the room and say, "Reese, what happened?" My daughter replies, "Greyson <insert thing he did that made her angry or hurt her>". We're trying to break the cycle on our end and theirs. From talking to other parents, this may be something we're working on for some time.
It all started with one of my, "how did we get so many toys?" comments. Then, I decided we were not only going to rearrange the children's toys (putting some up and bringing others out as "new"). This time, we were going to go through every single last bit of stuff and we were going to get rid of things. Lots of things, because we had more than the children needed.
My husband helps me with these things, and he does a good job, but it's not his favorite thing to do. When I told him we were taking every single toy, game and kid thing and putting it into one room in our house to evaluate, I know he mentally gave me an evil eye. But he helped. When we saw how much stuff we really had, my husband said, "we need to get rid of fifty-percent of these toys."
We decided what to keep because it was still age-relavant and what to keep because it was sentimental to us or them as they grew. We selected things to keep that were some of the best toys for younger ages in case we had visiting babies or toddlers. The relevant things went to various corners of the house where the children have their toy areas (toys have homes and do not belong all over the house). We took the other items and stored them in the attic appropriately.
And we selected things to go. Lots of things to go. Thank goodness we have that extra bay in the garage because there were lots of things heading into the garage. As we went into the attic, we made decisions about not-toy things that we didn't need either. Bottles? A must go. Boppy pillow? Bumbo seat? Infant car seat? They all got put in the growing mound in the garage. And that's when I had the idea—let's have a free sale.
We have many, many parents with lots of small children in our neighborhood. We also have lots of pregnant moms. Wouldn't it be great if we could share out things with our neighborhood friends and neighbors? So I sent out an email to everyone.
Today was our free sale. I offered a, "free helium balloon to any child that takes home a stuffed animal," in the hopes we'd her rid of some of that pile. Few stuffed animals went home, but lots of balloons did with smiling children.
We had multiple pregnant mothers who were grateful for the pregnancy, infant and baby things we had to share. We had two non-functioning slot machines my neighbor gladly took off our hands and one mom who wanted to get back into shape that claimed our treadmill. So many things going to happy families.
Oh, and I forgot to mention my husband's idea. He suggested I say any donations would go to our children's school. We had a jar out and there was quite a bit of money put into it from generous families.
Several people said they'd love to do this too in the future. I think we're going to plan a neighborhood free sale day at some point next year. What a fun sight that would be...free stuff in every driveway.
The Big Boy Update: My son has been having some adjustment issues with his new school classroom and routine. He's holding it together at school and doing well, but when he gets home, he has a need for routine, regularity and known expectations. My husband and I are not ones for routine and regularity. We are reasonably regular, but we don't do dinner at the exact same time each day. We might go out to dinner to any number of restaurants or eat in. There may be playing in the yard with neighbors before or after dinner or it might be reading books or playing a game or watching television. We vary. My son needs "regular" and not "random" right now and his reaction is to try and control everything and everyone. To the outsider or untrained, it seems like he's losing his mind and throwing tantrums. Hell, it looks like that way to us too. We're trying to help him through this tough time. We appreciate all the advice we've been given from his teachers and our friends with knowledge about childhood development.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: This is a pattern that happens in our house a lot... My daughter begins crying, screaming or both a room or two over. My husband or I come into the room and say, "Reese, what happened?" My daughter replies, "Greyson <insert thing he did that made her angry or hurt her>". We're trying to break the cycle on our end and theirs. From talking to other parents, this may be something we're working on for some time.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Fall Cleaning
Some people get struck with spring cleaning fever. I get stuck with fall cleaning frenzy. Actually, I get plagued by both. I like to clean things up and out. It's amazing how many things it's possible to accumulate, even when you're not trying.
My husband and I decided it was time to get rid of lots of the children's toys they had outgrown. We went through every single toy, infant and toddler item we had, deciding what to keep and what to share with others.
My husband had a target of 50% reduction of stuff. I don't think we met that number, but we have a lot less clutter now. We kept things that were important to us or items we might have use for if someone visited with a younger child, but for the most part, if we no longer needed it, it got put in the big share pile.
All the toys we picked out we're easily added to the stack by us, the adults. The children, having not seen the baby rattle or sorting blocks or other items in some time, immediately had to play with them all.
The Big Boy Update: My son said to me today, "This is not a circle. It's round. Some of them are pointy sides".
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has learned how to change the toilet paper roll. She knows where the replacement rolls are and she knows the used roll goes in the trash. Only, sometimes she likes to change the roll when the current roll is still full.
My husband and I decided it was time to get rid of lots of the children's toys they had outgrown. We went through every single toy, infant and toddler item we had, deciding what to keep and what to share with others.
My husband had a target of 50% reduction of stuff. I don't think we met that number, but we have a lot less clutter now. We kept things that were important to us or items we might have use for if someone visited with a younger child, but for the most part, if we no longer needed it, it got put in the big share pile.
All the toys we picked out we're easily added to the stack by us, the adults. The children, having not seen the baby rattle or sorting blocks or other items in some time, immediately had to play with them all.
The Big Boy Update: My son said to me today, "This is not a circle. It's round. Some of them are pointy sides".
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has learned how to change the toilet paper roll. She knows where the replacement rolls are and she knows the used roll goes in the trash. Only, sometimes she likes to change the roll when the current roll is still full.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
The Horrors
I received a Facebook friend request from someone I hadn't had any contact with in over fifteen years. It took a bit to place him specifically, although I knew it was from the company I used to work with. But after we had swapped some messages on Facebook it all came back. He worked as a consultant for my company and travelled to do work projects all over the United States. Only, he didn't live in the United States, he lived in New Zealand.
He also reminded me of his work partner in New Zealand that I had also worked with during that time. I had gone on a consulting assignment to work with the New Zealand Police Department to them with some software development issues they had. This was around 1998 and before I started with that project, I stopped in to work with these two guys from our company, Heath and Darren, for a few days.
We had a great week getting some things done. When we weren't working, we were going out to dinner and bars and having an all around good time as work buddies. I have some specific memories from that trip, including some things I saw that we didn't have in the United States yet, but I had hopes they would come soon.
The first was something called a "Reverse Mortgage". Darren and his wife had one. The mortgage on their home was rolled into their bank account's overall balance. That means that if you owed $100,000 on your home and had your salary check of $2,000 deposited into your account, your total balance would show as $-98,000. The idea was that before you spent that $2,000, your daily interest calculation on the house would be for less than the $100,000 resulting in taking less time to pay off the balance. It also encouraged you to pay off the loan sooner (or it could cause you to spend more if you had a credit limit and poor spending habits).
They told me it was an attractive option for older, retired people who had lots of equity in their homes with little to no income. Over time, they could spend equity in their homes if needed, instead of dying and giving a paid-off house to their heirs.
I still haven't seen that type of loan here in the United States, but the next three things I have seen. The first is larger ketchup and condiment packets. Instead of getting lots of small packets of ketchup, you got one large one with your meal. You could open it in such a way that it would squirt out without getting your hands messy. Many fast food restaurants now have larger packets of ketchup that you can either open and dip into or open a second way and squeeze onto something.
The second thing that is becoming more prevalent is the "big flush, little flush" toilets. I'd never seen them back in 1998 but it made good sense. Liquids only? Use the small flush button. Need more flushing power? Use the big flush option.
The one that surprised me the most because it took so long to catch on here was something they were calling EFTPOS. They pronounced it as though it was an acronym. This was the latest—everyone was doing it. If you didn't have it you might loose customers. It stood for Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale. We went to a bar and everyone ordered drinks. You got your drink, they held up an electronic keypad on a cord, you swiped your card and entered your PIN. Drink paid for...that easy.
It was years later that machines started showing up on the customer's side of the counter where you could pay yourself. Today I don't think it's as prevalent here as it was in New Zealand back in 1998. Maybe credit card fees are too high here or there's some other barrier to making it more ubiquitous.
The final thing I remember is my associate Darren and his wife. I don't remember her name or their son's name but I know their daughter was named Baley. Darren and his wife loved their three- and five-year-old children, but they had a nick name for them that would make you think otherwise. They called them, "The Horrors". It was said so lovingly that you knew they were joking, but it was funny still. Every now and then, I call my children, "the horrors" and think of Darren and Heath and my trip to New Zealand.
The Big Boy Update: I got some information about what my son is doing at school today—and I got it from the most unlikely of places...my son. He doesn't like to talk about what he has done, he likes to tell you what he is currently doing. Today he told me he worked with button frames and cylinders.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter is not aware that she has two teachers (from what I can tell). She is infatuated with her teacher, Susan. When Anne, the other teacher, put her in the car yesterday I told her Reese was in love with Susan. Anne said, "well, aren't we all!" Both Anne and Susan are great.
Fitness Update: I did a twenty-minute workout on the Xbox today. Uncle Jonathan told me the new Xbox fitness was really impressive. I was beat after twenty minutes. I'm not sure how Uncle Jonathan did two twenty-minute sessions in a row.
He also reminded me of his work partner in New Zealand that I had also worked with during that time. I had gone on a consulting assignment to work with the New Zealand Police Department to them with some software development issues they had. This was around 1998 and before I started with that project, I stopped in to work with these two guys from our company, Heath and Darren, for a few days.
We had a great week getting some things done. When we weren't working, we were going out to dinner and bars and having an all around good time as work buddies. I have some specific memories from that trip, including some things I saw that we didn't have in the United States yet, but I had hopes they would come soon.
The first was something called a "Reverse Mortgage". Darren and his wife had one. The mortgage on their home was rolled into their bank account's overall balance. That means that if you owed $100,000 on your home and had your salary check of $2,000 deposited into your account, your total balance would show as $-98,000. The idea was that before you spent that $2,000, your daily interest calculation on the house would be for less than the $100,000 resulting in taking less time to pay off the balance. It also encouraged you to pay off the loan sooner (or it could cause you to spend more if you had a credit limit and poor spending habits).
They told me it was an attractive option for older, retired people who had lots of equity in their homes with little to no income. Over time, they could spend equity in their homes if needed, instead of dying and giving a paid-off house to their heirs.
I still haven't seen that type of loan here in the United States, but the next three things I have seen. The first is larger ketchup and condiment packets. Instead of getting lots of small packets of ketchup, you got one large one with your meal. You could open it in such a way that it would squirt out without getting your hands messy. Many fast food restaurants now have larger packets of ketchup that you can either open and dip into or open a second way and squeeze onto something.
The second thing that is becoming more prevalent is the "big flush, little flush" toilets. I'd never seen them back in 1998 but it made good sense. Liquids only? Use the small flush button. Need more flushing power? Use the big flush option.
The one that surprised me the most because it took so long to catch on here was something they were calling EFTPOS. They pronounced it as though it was an acronym. This was the latest—everyone was doing it. If you didn't have it you might loose customers. It stood for Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale. We went to a bar and everyone ordered drinks. You got your drink, they held up an electronic keypad on a cord, you swiped your card and entered your PIN. Drink paid for...that easy.
It was years later that machines started showing up on the customer's side of the counter where you could pay yourself. Today I don't think it's as prevalent here as it was in New Zealand back in 1998. Maybe credit card fees are too high here or there's some other barrier to making it more ubiquitous.
The final thing I remember is my associate Darren and his wife. I don't remember her name or their son's name but I know their daughter was named Baley. Darren and his wife loved their three- and five-year-old children, but they had a nick name for them that would make you think otherwise. They called them, "The Horrors". It was said so lovingly that you knew they were joking, but it was funny still. Every now and then, I call my children, "the horrors" and think of Darren and Heath and my trip to New Zealand.
The Big Boy Update: I got some information about what my son is doing at school today—and I got it from the most unlikely of places...my son. He doesn't like to talk about what he has done, he likes to tell you what he is currently doing. Today he told me he worked with button frames and cylinders.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter is not aware that she has two teachers (from what I can tell). She is infatuated with her teacher, Susan. When Anne, the other teacher, put her in the car yesterday I told her Reese was in love with Susan. Anne said, "well, aren't we all!" Both Anne and Susan are great.
Fitness Update: I did a twenty-minute workout on the Xbox today. Uncle Jonathan told me the new Xbox fitness was really impressive. I was beat after twenty minutes. I'm not sure how Uncle Jonathan did two twenty-minute sessions in a row.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
ALL THE TOYS ARE MINE!
My son and daughter were having a difficult time playing together yesterday. For instance, my son laid out some pillows on the floor to make a letter X and play some game involving the floor being water so you had to step on the pillows. His sister liked the game, but then she decided she wanted to hold one of the pillows. An argument ensued.
My daughter wanted to play with the sit-on train and because she wanted it, suddenly her brother wanted it too. The train breaks into two pieces, the engine, and the car (on which you can sit). I broke it apart saying they could each have one half. Angry yells followed.
Imagine about three more episodes of the game, "No One Gets Along" over the next ten minutes and someone named Mommy lost her temper. I did that iYell thing again, declaring that since they couldn't share the toys, I had decided all the toys were mine. Every single toy. They couldn't play with or even touch any of the toys on that floor because they were all mine.
What they could do is go upstairs, where the majority of the toys are. They could walk right up there and have fun with all those other toys. Did they budge? No. Did they complain? Then a funny thing happened: my son decided to make sure his sister knew the toys were mine and that she couldn't touch them (she was eating some yogurt and was over it by then).
I told my son if he was willing to share with me, that I would share my toys with him since he had calmed down and was using his quiet voice. He protested, "no mommy, they're your toys." "Okay", I said, let me know if you'd like to share my toys and I'll consider it."
Later that day and again today, I reminded the children that if they weren't able to share, all the toys would be mine again; did they remember when that happened? They did, and things seemed to be more harmonious for a while after those reminders.
The Big Boy Update: Kinstructions. My son was helping me with some toys and puzzles yesterday. We were cleaning out the closet. He found one game, opened it up and told me, "mom, here are the kinstructions." He wanted me to read them and teach him how to play.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Lin-num-maid. That's the phonetic pronunciation of how my daughter says, 'lemonade'. She can said certain sounds just fine, but I think she likes to say them the way she wants to anyway.
Fitness Update: My trainer asked me if I was doing okay today, as in could I hack it, could I manage it, was I going to make it through the workout. I know, it's been a while, I told him. If I passed out, I'd just pick up on the next round, I told him.
My daughter wanted to play with the sit-on train and because she wanted it, suddenly her brother wanted it too. The train breaks into two pieces, the engine, and the car (on which you can sit). I broke it apart saying they could each have one half. Angry yells followed.
Imagine about three more episodes of the game, "No One Gets Along" over the next ten minutes and someone named Mommy lost her temper. I did that iYell thing again, declaring that since they couldn't share the toys, I had decided all the toys were mine. Every single toy. They couldn't play with or even touch any of the toys on that floor because they were all mine.
What they could do is go upstairs, where the majority of the toys are. They could walk right up there and have fun with all those other toys. Did they budge? No. Did they complain? Then a funny thing happened: my son decided to make sure his sister knew the toys were mine and that she couldn't touch them (she was eating some yogurt and was over it by then).
I told my son if he was willing to share with me, that I would share my toys with him since he had calmed down and was using his quiet voice. He protested, "no mommy, they're your toys." "Okay", I said, let me know if you'd like to share my toys and I'll consider it."
Later that day and again today, I reminded the children that if they weren't able to share, all the toys would be mine again; did they remember when that happened? They did, and things seemed to be more harmonious for a while after those reminders.
The Big Boy Update: Kinstructions. My son was helping me with some toys and puzzles yesterday. We were cleaning out the closet. He found one game, opened it up and told me, "mom, here are the kinstructions." He wanted me to read them and teach him how to play.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Lin-num-maid. That's the phonetic pronunciation of how my daughter says, 'lemonade'. She can said certain sounds just fine, but I think she likes to say them the way she wants to anyway.
Fitness Update: My trainer asked me if I was doing okay today, as in could I hack it, could I manage it, was I going to make it through the workout. I know, it's been a while, I told him. If I passed out, I'd just pick up on the next round, I told him.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Candy and Chocolate Popsicles
My children are getting more independent every month. This is good, it means I can get things done without worrying where there are every second. This is bad, it means they can get into trouble while I'm busy not worrying about them.
For the most part, my children are good kids and don't mess with things they know they're not suppose to get into. They don't have a fascination with the knife block, the oven burners or the gasoline can in the garage. They don't try to destroy furniture, damage the walls or jump off the deck. But they're toddlers, and toddlers invariably get into trouble just by being themselves.
Today was a challenging day for my son. He had "strong feelings", as they call it in Montessori school, about pretty much everything and everyone. As a result, I had some strong feelings myself which resulted in this thing I do called iYell.
Trying to keep my children in the same room of the house resulted in dramatic conflicts, mostly instigated by my son. I was having to separate them, negotiate conflict resolutions between them and eventually they just didn't want to be in the same place together. Or maybe I told my son he had to go elsewhere, I can't remember.
Two toddlers in two places can be a recipe for mischief though. At one point I discovered my son had left the house and I didn't see him in the back yard. He had decided he wanted to, "go and play with Ryan and Kiera" (who live two houses over) and was wandering across their back yard. So I spent some time outside shouting at him from the deck that 1) he hadn't been invited, 2) Ryan and Kiera were still at school so could he please come back home.
During this time, my daughter had gone into the pantry. She's good at getting her stool out and climbing up on the shelves, perusing the various items and selecting things she's not allowed to have. If the items are in containers she can't open, say like a Nutrigrain bar, she smashes the pouch around until the bar is mush.
This time, she's found the bowl of candy packets with things like gummy bears, sour worms and Mike & Ikes. Through a leap of toddler discovery, she figured out how to open the pouches and was on candy packet number three when I came back into the kitchen. She was very pleased. She showed me her handiwork. As a result, that candy bowl is now somewhere very high up away from the pantry.
Later in the day I realized I didn't hear my son making noise in the living room any more. He had been playing with a parking garage toy for a while and I had hoped he was still there. When I called down asking what he was doing, he casually said, "I was just having a chocolate popsicle."
Wait, what? I knew he could open the freezer, but I didn't think he could get to the shelf where the chocolate popsicles were. I didn't think he would know how to open the wrapper either. So I came downstairs and looked at him. Chocolate marks were all around his mouth. It appeared he had been successful. But where was this popsicle and the stick and was it all over my oriental rug melting now?
He told me it was in the trash. It wasn't, but what he had done was great (aside from not being allowed to just free snack on chocolate popsicles in the middle of the afternoon). He had gotten a single popsicle, closed the freezer, taken it out to the porch, eaten it and left the stick and wrapper outside. He came back in, made sure the dog came in with him and closed the door behind him.
We will be working on asking for snack and not helping yourself in the weeks to come it appears.
The Big Boy Update: Several quotes from my son over the past few days:
- Dad asks, "do you want more dinner?" My son replies, "no I'm way too dessert hungry."
- I said out loud that we'd lost the dog, meaning that she had gone outside and not returned quickly. My son said, "does that mean we don't have a dog anymore?"
- At dinner at a sushi restaurant tonight, my son stood up on the booth seat and looked into the check out area at the front of the restaurant and said, "I see Pahmer." Both Uncle Jonathan and I craned our necks, but we still couldn't figure out who Pahmer was. My son was helpful enough to pick up some rice a few minutes later, saying, "this is Pahmer."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was in a store with me yesterday. As we walked through the aisles of the big store she said, "hey mom, I found a bathroom." I went to where she was and sure enough, it was a bathroom. She recognized the sign beside the door.
For the most part, my children are good kids and don't mess with things they know they're not suppose to get into. They don't have a fascination with the knife block, the oven burners or the gasoline can in the garage. They don't try to destroy furniture, damage the walls or jump off the deck. But they're toddlers, and toddlers invariably get into trouble just by being themselves.
Today was a challenging day for my son. He had "strong feelings", as they call it in Montessori school, about pretty much everything and everyone. As a result, I had some strong feelings myself which resulted in this thing I do called iYell.
Trying to keep my children in the same room of the house resulted in dramatic conflicts, mostly instigated by my son. I was having to separate them, negotiate conflict resolutions between them and eventually they just didn't want to be in the same place together. Or maybe I told my son he had to go elsewhere, I can't remember.
Two toddlers in two places can be a recipe for mischief though. At one point I discovered my son had left the house and I didn't see him in the back yard. He had decided he wanted to, "go and play with Ryan and Kiera" (who live two houses over) and was wandering across their back yard. So I spent some time outside shouting at him from the deck that 1) he hadn't been invited, 2) Ryan and Kiera were still at school so could he please come back home.
During this time, my daughter had gone into the pantry. She's good at getting her stool out and climbing up on the shelves, perusing the various items and selecting things she's not allowed to have. If the items are in containers she can't open, say like a Nutrigrain bar, she smashes the pouch around until the bar is mush.
This time, she's found the bowl of candy packets with things like gummy bears, sour worms and Mike & Ikes. Through a leap of toddler discovery, she figured out how to open the pouches and was on candy packet number three when I came back into the kitchen. She was very pleased. She showed me her handiwork. As a result, that candy bowl is now somewhere very high up away from the pantry.
Later in the day I realized I didn't hear my son making noise in the living room any more. He had been playing with a parking garage toy for a while and I had hoped he was still there. When I called down asking what he was doing, he casually said, "I was just having a chocolate popsicle."
Wait, what? I knew he could open the freezer, but I didn't think he could get to the shelf where the chocolate popsicles were. I didn't think he would know how to open the wrapper either. So I came downstairs and looked at him. Chocolate marks were all around his mouth. It appeared he had been successful. But where was this popsicle and the stick and was it all over my oriental rug melting now?
He told me it was in the trash. It wasn't, but what he had done was great (aside from not being allowed to just free snack on chocolate popsicles in the middle of the afternoon). He had gotten a single popsicle, closed the freezer, taken it out to the porch, eaten it and left the stick and wrapper outside. He came back in, made sure the dog came in with him and closed the door behind him.
We will be working on asking for snack and not helping yourself in the weeks to come it appears.
The Big Boy Update: Several quotes from my son over the past few days:
- Dad asks, "do you want more dinner?" My son replies, "no I'm way too dessert hungry."
- I said out loud that we'd lost the dog, meaning that she had gone outside and not returned quickly. My son said, "does that mean we don't have a dog anymore?"
- At dinner at a sushi restaurant tonight, my son stood up on the booth seat and looked into the check out area at the front of the restaurant and said, "I see Pahmer." Both Uncle Jonathan and I craned our necks, but we still couldn't figure out who Pahmer was. My son was helpful enough to pick up some rice a few minutes later, saying, "this is Pahmer."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was in a store with me yesterday. As we walked through the aisles of the big store she said, "hey mom, I found a bathroom." I went to where she was and sure enough, it was a bathroom. She recognized the sign beside the door.
Monday, September 1, 2014
deadmau5
If you don't know how to pronounce the title, it's "dead mouse". My son likes deadmau5, and I'm not even that surprised. It's been interesting how we got there...
During spring break and Easter holiday, we went to visit my in-laws at their home in Florida. During that time, my husband and I took a secondary trip with my brother- and sister-in-law to Key West. We had a great time during both parts of the trip.
While we were in Key West, we looked for something to get Uncle Jonathan, who was taking care of our house and canine at home. There were many things, but one thing that stuck out (and had absolutely nothing to do with Key West) was a t-shirt with deadmau5's logo on it. Uncle Jonathan loves deadmau5, the shirt was cool looking, done deal.
We got home and gave Uncle Jonathan the shirt and from time to time he wears it when he comes to visit. Here's the thing about deadmaus (did I mention he was a musician?) His logo looks like the rather famous Mickey Mouse, but only to a child. My son is a child...so he asked Uncle Jonathan if that was Mickey Mouse on his shirt. Uncle Jonathan said that no, this was deadmau5.
The next time the shirt came to visit, my son remembered. "It's deadmau5!" he cried. We decided he might want hear some of deadmau5's music. For those of you in the business of knowing all the niches and varieties of music, don't yell at me when I'm not technically accurate in my classification of deadmau5's work, but it's cool EDM to me.
EDM is "Electronic DanceMusic", and his music does, in fact, make me want to nod my head around (regardless of how much it may bother my cranky neck) and do that terribly unsophisticated dancing thing I do.
My son thought his music was great. I'm not surprised by that either because for his favorite song this past year's classroom CD, he picked Martin Garrix's, Animals, which is also a serious beat-tastic song with very little words.
Today my son specifically asked me to put on deadmau5. I pulled up Pandora and created a genre station based on deadmau5, just for him. He really liked it. He seriously can't dance. He is definitely related to me on that front.
The Big Boy Update: My son, after asking me to put on deadmau5 music, asked me, "What does deadmau5's Mickey Mouse dance look like?" I did not know.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Into the wall she ran. My daughter has inherited my, "complete lack of paying attention to hard things". This is sometimes known as, "being clumsy". This morning she was happily singing and walking into the kitchen, looking forward to breakfast when she looked to the right and ran straight into the cabinet, head hitting the granite. That was only one of three times she hit her head today due to not paying attention.
Fitness Update: Six mile success. I ran again today. Wheeeehaw, I am out of shape, but it wasn't like yesterday. I was able to run the entire time, so my bonking yesterday was most probably due to a lack of calories and hydration. I ate a huge meal last night and drank liquids before going out this morning and didn't have problems. I did, though, still lose three pounds of water-weight just from the run in the hot, humid weather.
During spring break and Easter holiday, we went to visit my in-laws at their home in Florida. During that time, my husband and I took a secondary trip with my brother- and sister-in-law to Key West. We had a great time during both parts of the trip.
While we were in Key West, we looked for something to get Uncle Jonathan, who was taking care of our house and canine at home. There were many things, but one thing that stuck out (and had absolutely nothing to do with Key West) was a t-shirt with deadmau5's logo on it. Uncle Jonathan loves deadmau5, the shirt was cool looking, done deal.
We got home and gave Uncle Jonathan the shirt and from time to time he wears it when he comes to visit. Here's the thing about deadmaus (did I mention he was a musician?) His logo looks like the rather famous Mickey Mouse, but only to a child. My son is a child...so he asked Uncle Jonathan if that was Mickey Mouse on his shirt. Uncle Jonathan said that no, this was deadmau5.
The next time the shirt came to visit, my son remembered. "It's deadmau5!" he cried. We decided he might want hear some of deadmau5's music. For those of you in the business of knowing all the niches and varieties of music, don't yell at me when I'm not technically accurate in my classification of deadmau5's work, but it's cool EDM to me.
EDM is "Electronic DanceMusic", and his music does, in fact, make me want to nod my head around (regardless of how much it may bother my cranky neck) and do that terribly unsophisticated dancing thing I do.
My son thought his music was great. I'm not surprised by that either because for his favorite song this past year's classroom CD, he picked Martin Garrix's, Animals, which is also a serious beat-tastic song with very little words.
Today my son specifically asked me to put on deadmau5. I pulled up Pandora and created a genre station based on deadmau5, just for him. He really liked it. He seriously can't dance. He is definitely related to me on that front.
The Big Boy Update: My son, after asking me to put on deadmau5 music, asked me, "What does deadmau5's Mickey Mouse dance look like?" I did not know.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Into the wall she ran. My daughter has inherited my, "complete lack of paying attention to hard things". This is sometimes known as, "being clumsy". This morning she was happily singing and walking into the kitchen, looking forward to breakfast when she looked to the right and ran straight into the cabinet, head hitting the granite. That was only one of three times she hit her head today due to not paying attention.
Fitness Update: Six mile success. I ran again today. Wheeeehaw, I am out of shape, but it wasn't like yesterday. I was able to run the entire time, so my bonking yesterday was most probably due to a lack of calories and hydration. I ate a huge meal last night and drank liquids before going out this morning and didn't have problems. I did, though, still lose three pounds of water-weight just from the run in the hot, humid weather.
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