Genius

There are two ideas we have implemented recently at our house and all I can say is, "Genius!"  They are not our own ideas; we borrowed them from the interwebs.  But we love them like our own.

The first solves a really old problem...how to get the preschooler to stay in her room until the sun comes up.  Both my children wake up when the light penetrates their curtains and it was really becoming a problem for A to stay in her room.  We had used an alarm clock that would play music when it was okay for her to come out, but she never knew how much longer it was going to be until the music came on.  I saw a really fancy preschool alarm clock online that had several different lights to go on/off at various times plus music. Looked brilliant, except for the $50 price tag.  J said he could rig up something similar with a plug-in timer that we use for Christmas lights.  Voila!  He plugged a dim bedside lamp into the timer and programmed it to come on at 6:45 am and go off at 7:00 am.  The idea is you stay in your bed until the light comes on, and you can leave the room when it goes off.  Works wonderfully!  Goodbye to the 4-6 interruptions between 6-7 am asking, "Can I get up and play yet?  Now?  Now can I get up?  How many more minutes until I can get up?"  Genius!

I found the second idea while searching for ideas to compile "busy box" activities for C to do while I am doing reading lessons with A.  Another mom mentioned using a small, inflatable pool to let the toddler play with rice, beans, buttons, beads, etc. while mom is nearby helping the older child.  Genius!  Especially since I already had the pool and the rice.  Only problem was keeping the older kid out of the fun.

What would we do without the internet?!

Four Years Old

Dear A,

You turned four this month. I'm a little late making notes about it, because we spent so much time getting ready for your party and then recuperating. You wanted a princess party with princess cupcakes. I did my best to give you all you wanted without selling out to Disney.

You started reading last month, and I can't slow you down. You're sounding out street signs, billboards, and magazine headlines. Daddy has been reading chapter books to you at bedtime for a few months now and you soak up all the new vocabulary. Sometimes I hear you narrating your play and it sounds so sophisticated.

You love to color, especially with markers. You make a picture for somebody at least once a day. You send them to the office with Daddy, mail them to cousins and grandmas, and still I have a big stack to sneak out of the house somehow. Your drawings are taking shape with recognizable people and houses, suns and flowers.

You have successfully quit sucking your thumb and got to paint your nails for the first time as a reward. 
You're still stuck on a sippy cup, but I'm working on phasing that one out, too. Your afternoon nap is becoming less regular without the help of your thumb to go to sleep. You've been enjoying quiet time every other day or so. At night, you want to sleep on the top bunk and sometimes you even make it to sleep without your beloved meatsy.

You ask so many, really good questions. "Where did the white plug in C's room come from? (electrical plug) Why do some kids have the same as me and others don't? (referring to body parts) Mommy, do you have a baby in your tummy or did you eat too much ice cream? (the latter, unfortunately)"

You're a great big sister, very helpful when you want to be. But it's hard to play with C sometimes, because she just doesn't understand your rules yet and you are all about the rules. You'll have to learn how to work things out with her because she's getting big and she's not afraid to hurt you. Today you made a "park" for her in the living room with lots of things you thought she would enjoy. You promised that she could play however she wanted and you wouldn't get angry. That was a very big gesture on your part.

I'm really trying to work with you right now to be a smidge less dramatic. You tend to have huge reactions to little problems, and the resulting battle is very draining. So then the next meltdown is a little bigger and the whole thing kind of snowballs our day. You have so many words, so it's really frustrating when you resort to flailing around on the floor and screaming. With God's help, we'll smooth out that rough edge before your next birthday.

I am so proud to call you my daughter and feel blessed beyond measure that God has placed you in our family. I pray we will have the wisdom and love to cultivate your soul into the beautiful masterpiece He has envisioned.

Gross Out

I think of all the nasty things I have to deal with as a mom--from bodily fluids to smushing bugs--black, chunky water that comes squirting out of stagnant rubber ducks has got to be one of the most repulsive side effects of a good time.

Lazy Day

Mark it - I think today has been the closest our little family will come to a lazy summer day this year. Nowhere to go, nothing huge to do. We played trains, read books, the girls even played while I got some things tended to. We ate popsicles on the patio for snack, then I filled up the pool. The girls are swimming while I blog. Wish there were more days like this one in the foreseeable future. How did our summer fly by so fast and furious?!

Beautifully Said

I have a lot of admiration for well-written blog posts that communicate truth and love in a way that is hard to ignore. Here are a few posts from blogs I read that made me say, "Amen!" or "Ouch!" when they arrived in my inbox.

Love is Not Colorblind

Better Me Than You

Herein is Love

How to Live a Better Story

10 Ways to Instantly Become More Attractive

How to be Disorganized & Unproductive at Your Job #1

How to be Disorganized & Unproductive at Your Job #2

Some of these are brand new, others are really old. I've been holding on to some of the links so I could share them here, and this is my way of de-cluttering my inbox. I think that takes the prize for laziest spring cleaning ever!

Kids Eat Free

My brother-in-law sent me these links to sites that help you find good restaurant deals with kids in tow. Thought others might find them helpful and putting them here keeps me from losing them. Enjoy!

http://www.mykidseatfree.com/welcome.asp

http://www.frugalliving.tv/free-stuff/kids-eat-free.html

Here Goes

Today is the day we say goodbye to thumb-sucking. Well, at least we take the first step and hope it works a miracle and we can really say goodbye to thumb-sucking without having to figure out what further action may be necessary. I just painted A's thumb with yucky clear polish marketed to help folks stop biting their nails.

First I said a little speech, "Thank you, thumb, for your years of service providing comfort and well-being. You have been a good friend. But, A is 4 now, and it is time to say goodbye to baby ways. It makes us a little bit sad to grow up, but we're also excited to see what will come next." We told her she could get pretty pink polish once we knew she was all done sucking her thumb. As the yucky polish went on, she cried and said, "I don't want pink polish." Then we took turns blowing as hard as we could on her nail to dry the polish. That turned pretty silly, so we ended on a good note.

She's already had one run-in with the bitter polish in the last half hour and it did produce some tears. But mainly she just wanted some juice stat to wash away the flavor. I told her that I used to suck on my fingers when I was little girl and my parents put the yucky polish on my nails, too. I distinctly remember waking up screaming in the middle of the night when my usual habit betrayed me. I hope I will be able to summon my compassion tonight if the same thing happens to my daughter.

We have no plans for today, so we'll hang out at home and see what kind of progress is made. Here goes...