I can't believe it took so long for me to be reminded of one of my favorite teaching activities: Scribbles. When we needed a break from the routine classwork, an imagination boost, or just some time of peace and quiet, I always loved to grab my file cards and get the kids coloring. A few days ago, the kids were running wild through the house. It was almost time for me to make lunch and all I wanted to do was cook in peace. I was prepared. I had drawn scribbles on about 15 4x6 cards with a … [Read more...]
Bedwetting: how do we know it's time to go diaperless?
September 7, 2011 by 2 Comments
I made a mistake this afternoon, and I'm sitting on my couch, wondering what the outcome will be. I put Little to bed for her nap in underpants, rather than a pull-up or diaper. Little has been potty trained for about a month. She hasn't had an accident in two weeks. And she's woken up dry at least 3 nights in a row. I put her on the potty right before her nap. And then I put her panties on, did our kisses bedtime routine, sang her a song and put her in bed. I walked out the door, closed it … [Read more...]
5 things to tell your kids when they have night time accidents (or wet the bed)
August 29, 2011 by 4 Comments
This summer, I've been talking a lot about bed wetting and night time accidents, as well as other areas of toddler and preschooler development. Moms often ask me, "what do I do when ____?" It's important to remain positive . Don't tell them they did something wrong or that it's their fault. That's the number one rule, because you don't want them to feel that they failed at something they simply have no control over. So. What do you do? Here, 5 things to tell your kids when they wake up … [Read more...]
Developing positive responses to not so positive episodes
July 10, 2011 by 3 Comments
It's so easy to take something away, right? If a child does something you don't want to encourage, or against the rules, how nice and easy is it to say "Oh! You did that again! That's it! You lose a point." And then the kid gets sad and more upset because not only did he fail you in doing something wrong, but he is now being punished. What good did taking away the point do, really? It's not that negative behavior needs to be ignored, not at all. There's a time, a place and, certainly, episodes … [Read more...]
Toddler and big kid high chairs
June 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment
My kids, ages 7, 5 and 1, all sit in high chairs. Really. Actually, when I have an opportunity, like right now as I type, so do I. Not the big, frilly, baby chairs, but Youth chairs, like the Svan. When Big was about 3, we transfered him from a booster to a regular kitchen chair. But. He couldn't sit still. He was always out of his seat, always falling all over, and extremely messy. A friend suggested a youth chair and I contacted my friends at Scandinavian Child. The very first night he sat … [Read more...]
Bump Month: Baby Safety – have you RHOOSTed yet?
May 24, 2011 by 4 Comments
Before kids, I listened to safety discussions and thought, will I really need to prepare my home in that way? Nah. I'll just teach my child that "no means no." He'll listen. Heh. There's a reason that baby safety is a multi million dollar industry: it's necessary. As many times as you say no, as many times as you try to tell your 1 year old that "we don't do that... It's dangerous... You could get hurt and have an owie..." a curious toddler is bound to test you. After all, what's more … [Read more...]
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