I recently took my 3 year old son shopping with me to Jersey Garden mall. I was a little hesitant on it because usually I go on my own and he stays home with the sitter. I said to my self I will give it a try. We arrived at the mall a little bit earlier then opening time and had time to walk around and look at the windows because all the stores were still closed. He was really happy to be there with me and was asking a ton of questions and looking around. I felt like I was dealing with a child who grew up right before my eyes. I decided to write this post because of something he did in one of the stores that really surprised me. We went into daffys and I am thinking to my self wow the tantrum is about to start, he will never be able to handle sitting in the stroller and me walking around and looking at things. I thought from experience with my older son that he will want to come out and run around the store like a nut and touch everything in his way. I was so wrong he sat in his stroller the entire time and spoke to me and looked around. Then we came to a section with toys. I was like oh god this is it. He saw two of his favorite cartoon characters toys. Dora and Boots from Dora the Explorer.He asked me if I can give it to him. I said sure thinking to my self I will probobly buy one for him if he plays with it the entire time I am spending in this store and really wants one that has a hard time letting go. I gathered all the things I needed and as I am heading for the register “I say to him lets say bye bye to dora and boots” and he says to me “ok mama here you go”. My eyes almost popped out I could not believe this was really him. What I am trying to say here is that it is totaly possible to take a 3 year old shopping and come home only with stuff you intended to purchase. I did have to plan my morning around him. I knew that we have to be done by 12 so he can nap. Otherwise it is getting much easier to be with him and do things that I need to get done.
If you recently started potty training, then you’re in the same situation as I am. Everything goes well while you’re at home, but as soon as you get into the car…somebody always has to go. And not only do they need to go, but they “have to go NOW!!!!”
So you look for the nearest rest area, pull over and, march into the public bathroom where the fun is only about to begin. First, your child doesn’t have to go any more, then he/she decides to give it a try, then he/she touches every nasty piece of whatever happens to be laying in that bathroom. Fifteen minutes into this quest and you feel that you should go too. However, the minute you sit/squat over the toilet your kid decides to:
- Open the door and expose you to the entire bathroom line
- Check out the neighbor in the next stall because he thinks bathrooms are fun
- Crawls from under the bathroom door, leaving you frantically trying to finish your business and chase after him/her.
All those scenarios have happened to me, and I’m sure to you too. I would like to know how you handled those situations. Please enter your response in the “bathroom quest” forum for a chance to win a prize.
My younger son was never a clingy baby. He didn’t really have a favorite toy or TV character. But around the time he turned two, he developed a relationship with his blanket, which he calls “ya-ya”. It started slowly, with my son asking for “ya-ya” when he was upset, scared and always at bedtime. Then he would take “ya-ya” as soon as he would come home from day care and drag it around for the rest of the day. So far, we’ve been able to keep one rule regarding “ya-ya”: it does not leave the house unless we’re going on an overnight trip. However I did catch “ya-ya” trying to sneak in the car with us on several other occasions.
You’re probably wondering why I even bother so much with this; just let the boy keep this comfort object. Well, first, my son almost outgrew the darn thing. Second, with all the mileage that “ya-ya” gets, I have to wash it several times a week; with a full time job, it barely makes it out of the dryer in time for bedtime, and if it doesn’t, all hell breaks loose. And I can’t imagine letting him take it to bed without a wash- who knows what is crawling on that thing. Third, ever since BBQ season began, every visit we have to a friends’ house, my son whines that he wants to go home. We end up searching our friends’ houses for something that resembles “ya-ya” because otherwise we end up having to go home. Our friends think we’re insane for tolerating this behavior.
All the materials I was able to find on the web about “lovey” and comfort objects say that you shouldn’t force the separation. But I can’t get the image out of my head of my son moving away to college with his “ya-ya” in tow. So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would appreciate the info.
I wrote about a national Hug your Kids Day on July 20th. And today I found a video of a very special hug. You must see this to believe it.
My two kids mean the world to me. I love to see them run around everyday, laugh, hug and play and enjoy life to the fullest.I always try my best to spend a lot of time with them and to show them how much they are loved. We all as parents try to do the best for our kids and hope that they feel secure. I heard today about the national hug your kids day and kind of fell in love with the idea. I know that my boys get hugs from me their little face just light up and it makes my day complete. I wanted to share some of this information on here with you. I know that all of us parents love to hug our kids and make them feel special everyday so one day a year make that extra effort to do it all day long. Its the greatest feeling on earth.
http://www.hugyourkidstoday.com/2009.asp
You can check out the link for more information on this very special day. We are planning to take a picture of our family in a great big hug :)) and would love to see all of yours.
Title: Toddler Time Tuesdays Presented by Fisher-Price
Location: Bronx Zoo
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2009-07-14
End Date: 2009-10-27
About six months ago I was debated if I want my then two year old son to start preschool. I thought maybe to keep him home until the summer and wait till he turns 3. I was afraid that maybe it was too early. Then I started to see that he was in desperate need to go and communicate with other children. Being at home all day didn’t really do him any good. I was doing a lot with him in terms of learning but it still was not the same. He needed to learn how to interact with others and also what worried me that he was not really talking.
I searched a lot of schools on Staten Island that really did not appeal to me and was ready to completely give up and wait till he is old enough to enter public school pre k program. I then came across a website for CBI academy and thought to my self I will give it one more try and go check it. It was very convenient location for me in terms of commute. When I came to the school I was pleasantly surprised. I was greeted by a very friendly director. She showed me the school, explained to me what the goals are and how they run the program. The facility was extremely clean and safe. I decided to try it part time with my son. What a surprise it was for me. The minute he opened his eyes, right away he wanted to go to school. His speech improved tremendously, he became even more social, and everyday that he comes home from the school he brings something new that he has learned, a song, the alphabet,new words and expressions. I can honestly say it was a great choice of school. The staff is amazing, the atmosphere is great each child is greeted in the morning by the teacher with a look of excitement on her face and the same for saying when the child goes home. My son has this enormous smile and looks forward to come back the following day.
For more information take a look a the following links.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/stn/kid/1259915624.html
I was on the train last night, when I overheard a conversation between two parents. The father was suggesting that they put a GPS devise into their daughter’s car so that they would be able to know where she is at all times. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My first thought was “Wow, thank G… I’m not their kid”. My second thought was that the girl in question must drive, making her at least 18 years old, in which case why are her parents still monitoring her so intently and violating her privacy.
I will agree that I do not know the whole story of those people, and they may have a good reason for doing this, however, I was 18 once too and in my opinion, if you still feel the need to monitor your child at 18, then you, as a parent, screwed up somewhere beforehand. I can’t speak from experience as a parent yet, since my kids are still very young, but I can speak from experience as an ex-18 year old. Teens are looking for freedom and independence as they grow; I feel they should receive it, coupled with the additional responsibility. For example, when I got my first “emergency” credit card, I knew there would be a bill at the end of the month which I would have to pay or else I would lose the card.
When my brother got his driver’s license and wanted to buy a new car (instead of using one of my parents’ cars for free) he was given that opportunity, as long as he paid for car himself (my parents would still cover his insurance). Once he had three speeding tickets, the privilege of “free insurance” was taken away and he had to pay for it himself.
I feel that it is our responsibility as parents to teach our kids these types of lessons so that they can make their own decisions. I found some support in the following articles http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/discipline/41515.html
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/any-advice-for-jaime/
I know I will probably be somewhat of a “helicopter” parent [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent] (even though I’m trying very hard not to turn into one) but the one thing I can promise my kids is that I will never say no without giving them a reason why and I will never invade their privacy by spying on them.
If you ever get a chance to travel without your kids for a long weekend, I recommend you try Amsterdam. My husband and I just came back from our trip; it’s about a 6 hour flight to Amsterdam and 7 hours back (if you’re thinking of driving to Cape Cod or Vermont this flight is a real piece of cake)
When we had our kids, both my husband and I thought it would be a long time before we would get to travel to Europe, because everyone told us you need two weeks for those kinds of trips. But what we’ve learned is that if you pick one city in Europe it makes a perfect destination for a long weekend both cost and value wise.
We were able to see all of what Amsterdam has to offer, including all the museums and a canal tour in just two days, and for our third day, we visited the nearby city of Den Haag (http://www.denhaag.com/default.asp?id=DOORWAYNEWS-uk). Since everybody speaks perfect English, this made it so much easier for us to travel around and ask for directions. Amsterdam also has a great transportation system, which made getting around really simple.
We were there during the white nights, (http://www.europestring.com/white-nights-in-europe/) which means two things: 1 the sun doesn’t go down until about 10pm, which allows for taking full advantage of the weekend and 2 all the young people are completely dressed in white, which gives the whole city a unique look.
There are tons of small private hotels in Amsterdam and we stayed at http://www.fita.nl/ in the museum district, operated by a husband and wife who had ton of great info. For example, they were able to get us advanced tickets to most museums at no additional costs, so we didn’t have to wait in line. And for the museums they didn’t have tickets for, they told us when to visit in order to avoid the long lines. So we wasted no time on our trip.
It is so peaceful and quiet in the city during the weekend, it really feels that the whole city is resting. You do hear the occasional blaring music but mostly in the center and closer to the evening hours. So even though we walked a lot we really felt rested.
I am getting ready to move with my family into a new house. I remember moving into the house where I live right now and at that time I only had one child. We moved from an apartment to a house so we didn’t have a lot of stuff to move. Well, this time around I don’t know where to begin. I don’t even know how so much stuff accumulated over the years in my house. Just one room alone requires multiple boxes and I see no end to it.
I was searching online for some moving tips. I wanted to see if I can find something to lesson all my troubles here. One of the best tips that I found was to let go of things. It was suggested to throw some things out that are of lesser importance and then the load lessens up.
I also found a site that has professional movers that can help you pack your house up and move. I thought it was great service. I thought maybe to post a link on here for those of you who may be interested.
http://www.americanfamilypackers.net/services.php