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So we’ve established SuperBoy is at home with me, poor chap, and his newly wild sister, SweetPea. What bee got in her bonnet? She’s talking, gesticulating, snatching, grabbing, shrieking, you name it. It’s awesome to see her spitfire personality come out, but also frightening when I imagine her, like this, forever. Maybe she’ll have a calm side too? She has also take to spastic dancing. In her high chair. On the ground. In her carseat. Girl’s got moves. When SuperBoy has thrown the last of his baseball cards to the ground from his floor bed (so it’s not really that far), he’s buzzed through all his Tintin books, and he’s looking for trouble to get into, we’ve been doing a few of these activities and plan to do them all this fall. And more. And less if I’m too tired. Wussie Mama lives here. But, on days your child isn’t at preschool, or if he stays home all day, a few new games and activities in your tool box will be fun! Most children this age are very interested in learning through all their senses: touch, taste, smell, feel, and sound. The world is their classroom and it’s our job as parents to help them find ways to creatively learn. 1) Yarn Braiding This little activity takes only a few materials and yields lots of fun. Materials: 2-4 skeins of a chunky yarn, a roll of sturdy tape like packaging tape, a table with chairs Cut three long (12-14 inches) pieces of…
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Me & my Godson, living it up. This is a big phatty reminder to all of us, me first. Don’t personalize each other’s parenting. Remember how I was in Virginia for my Godson’s baptism? With my wonderful family and wonderful in-law family (well, my brother’s in-laws, but we’ve all claimed them for our own we love them so)? I really learned something about myself when we were there, in the land of milk & honey & the Shenandoah River Valley. I realized how personally I take other parents’ decisions. This personalization looks different than judging. We’ve talked about the difference between being judgmental and making a judgment. We’ve talked about parenting styles that vary. We’ve talked about children driving you insane so you just eat cookies in the dark pantry (and chocolate chips!) while in your 2-day-old PJs and your hair starting to dreadlock–true story, that. Personalization is more elusive than an outright disagreement at parents’ choices; it’s downright disgust at them, or better yet, horror or anger. Here’s the sitch: I’m chatting one night over a dinner banquet with my beautiful sissie-in-law while she allows me to snuggle my Godson. She’s sharing about life and I’m sharing about life and then it happens. She mentions a friend whose child attends a few hours a week preschool, and how for this stay-at-home mom that time when children are doing structured projects and artwork etc, is needed and valued for the merit of the activities pursued. I find myself reacting strongly. Unstructured…
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Our son is three. By most accounts, he’s considered a preschooler. That would indicated that he is in a stage before school, and should be prepped for school in the coming year or two, right? That means I should worry and fret, purchase pre-K materials, drill him on his alphabet, numbers, colors, rings around Jupiter, right? For our family, these anxieties are not right. And maybe they’re not right for your family, either. After prayerfully considering our son’s temperament, the wonderful conventional school options around us, and our hopes for his development, we’ve determined that at this point, we’re going to homeschool for grade school. I’m a lawyer, not a teacher, by trade. Despite that apparent handicap, it feels like a good fit. If you’ve made that determination for your family as well, or are living it out, what does this mean for homeschooling preschool? The first thing I’ve learned from my other friends who homeschool is to relax! Before you buy the software that guarantees your kiddo will get into an Ivy League, or invest in workbooks and instructional tomes, remember your child is still a child. One who is navigating and conquering basics like linguistic expression of feelings (fancy talk for temper-tantrums), awareness of physiological urges (ditto for toilet-training), grasping gastronomy and correlative behavior (triple for eating & how food affects you), and navigating interchild relations (you know, figuring out sharing and play with others). Add to the mix perhaps being an older or younger sibling, having multiple…
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I ran a post a few weeks (months?) ago with some family friendly recipes. It went over well so here are a few more that I’ve been trying out lately. Oh, yes, and there was that baking post too for the hungry mama heart. The most trying part for me about new recipes is that one can easily spend loads of time in the kitchen and have nothing but a bunch of dirty dish towels and dishes to show for it. And probably the entire time was spent snacking on chocolate chips because you were so h-angry whilst cooking. I mean, I would never do that, but some of you might snake a handful or two out of the freezer. We’ve been traveling, entertaining guests, helping friends move, gearing up for a big vendor show next weekend for my & my Whole Parenting Goods, and trying to relax. Focusing very strictly on relaxing. Relax, dammit. Instead, two nights in a row, SuperBoy has crept into our bedroom while we are downstairs, after he should have fallen asleep in his own bedroom, and tucked himself in our bed. Literally. Under the sheets & blanket, even with his little man doll Charlie Dixie in tow. It’s hysterical and hysteria-inducing. Go to sleep in your own bed, you tyrant!!! So AA carries his lifefilled sack of potatoes into his own bed and sneaks out of the room, hoping the wood floors don’t creak him away. Back to food. 1) Easy Chicken Noodle Soup.…
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Photo by Emily Rumsey It’s World Breastfeeding Awareness Week. As a breastfeeding mother, you certainly need, no NEED, to hear my contribution on the topic. Right? Maybe. But maybe not. Articles of mine on breastfeeding {The Whole List}: Three Beginner Breastfeeding Tips Breastfeeding Right After Delivery Breastfeeding: Duration of Nursing Sessions Breastfeeding & the Art of Latching Breastfeeding & Nipple Pain What Are the Good Nursing Positions Nursing Past Age One When to Stop Night Nursing —- Here’s the maybe: Breastfeeding was a no-brainer for me. I knew it was best for baby, best for me, and I made my life work around it. Working, errands, pumping, late nights, no trips without baby, etc. It was easy, in part, SuperBoy nursed happily til 14 months, no supplementing. SweetPea is almost 16 months and still nurses, no supplementing. She had a tougher time latching, but made it through those first few weeks and then it’s all been cruise control. For her part, she never took a pacifier, isn’t a huge bottle fan, and would only only be comforted by me. By these, rather. Challenging, annoying, wonderful, all these things for those nights I wanted to go to bed and stay in bed. Forever. But both children flourished, were exceptionally healthy, and very confident. I’m a fan of breastfeeding (and attachment parenting in general {Attachment Parenting is About Sacrifice}). As an aside, people always said that extended nursing {Why Nurse Longer?} is special because it’s the only time, for some little personalities,…
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As in me, not my mom. She’s fascinating. No, me, a mom. Why are moms boring? I know, I know, our non-mommy friends try to prop up our paper thin egos and offer encouragement like see–you’re still fun to go out with! You own more than yoga pants! Love that we’re out for drinks! Meanwhile they’re thinking will you ever shut up about your kid’s spasms? I can’t believe you complain about your husband all the time. Do we really have to leave by 9:30? At least they are still friends with us–despite our permanent state of stream of consciousness. But our fellow moms know the truth: we are plain leftover oatmeal boring. That fun girl in her 20’s, who stayed up late, invested in so many relationships and talked and listened and contributed to all her organizations, those ones? All of yous, my beloved mama readers? The ones who pursued tough academic paths, crabby & crappy jobs to get through school, the ones who ate late night nachos with the girls & Amy’s pizzas, survived on little sleep with no eye makeup the next day, looking fine, you know how it was. Now all emotional energies go toward negotiating with the world’s cutest terrors, the year’s biggest tantrumers, the neediest independent girls, the kitchen that uses my dishes all night to through a potluck for the dining room, the husband that you want to actually talk to but are too tired to. This all hit me the other night when I had an…
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