DPW Day
Today didn’t start off so well. When you hear one of your children (in our case Buba) screaming at 5:38 in the morning, you know you’re off to a bad start. He wasn’t sick or hurt. This is just how he’s been waking up for the last few days, though usually not so early. Ugh!
Fortunately, our day got much, much better. We ate an early breakfast, and I had Tiny and Buba to the playroom at my gym by 8:30. I worked out for about an hour, and then we all came home. I showered while the kids ate a snack and watched a 12 minute Busytown Mystery streamed from Netflix (screen time is now allowed in small doses and only on very rare occasions), so I could be sure that they would stay out of trouble while I was in the shower.
Then came the best part of our day. It was DPW (Department of Public Works) Day in a neighboring town, so we headed over to get in on the fun.
First, Tiny and Buba got on the little bus that runs through that town. They got to see where and how the money goes in the coin taker, and were quite fascinated by how that worked.
Then they both rode of two different grass cutters. Once Tiny realized that these big vehicles had seat belts, she was all about buckling and unbuckling.
Next, we saw the giant street sweeper.
And they were thrilled to find out that they got to sit up in the big street sweeper too!
Then it was on to the big crane truck…
and the big backhoe (it’s hard to see, but that’s Tiny sitting up in the cab).
There were several more vehicles to explore, but at that point, we’d had our fill. We grabbed some coloring books, two plastic construction hats, and a little snack on our way back to the mini-van. Then we headed off to have lunch with some friends.
When the day starts out poorly, it often puts me in a tired and cranky mood. I’ve often threatened that “We won’t do fun things if you’re not good sleepers.” But, of course, that’s often a huge punishment to myself as well. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be better sleepers the next night. I’m learning that we need to have rules, and we need to have consequences, but forgive and forget needs to happen after that. Let life go on.
I’m so glad I remembered to do that today.
Science Project (part one)
Last week, a teacher from T’s school gave us a caterpillar for the kids to observe. It came in that little condiment sized container that it’s crawling on below. We kept in in there for a few days, but it grew very quickly and soon needed a larger home. So, I put it in an empty strawberry container, not noticing at the time just how many large holes were in that thing.
After placing the caterpillar in that strawberry container, we put it up on the kitchen counter. A couple of hours later, I found the caterpillar crawling on the kitchen floor. I tried to tape up all the holes, but the caterpillar was actually able to find weak spots and push right through. Clearly a different container was needed (see below).
Buba and Tiny frequently ask to be lifted up to see the caterpillar. Those first few days, it mostly just hung out in the little container where its food was. Then yesterday afternoon, it climbed to the top of the new container.
And then last night, it hung itself in the J position.
By early afternoon, we could see the beginnings of its chrysalis.
It’s really fun for me to see how excited Tiny and Buba are to watch this process. We talk about what’s happening and they are so excited to see the butterfly. Hopefully they can be patient over the next week or so as we wait for the magic to unfold.
A Very Lot of Fun
Our library has a little corner near the circulation desk where they sell gently used books for fifty cents to a dollar. We recently picked up Donald Crews’ book Night at the Fair and have read it so much that I practically have the whole thing committed to memory. Our favorite page is the one that says the best ride of all is the giant ferris wheel. Every time we read the book, Tiny and Buba comment that they will ride the giant ferris wheel when they get big.
So it was a huge surprise and created a ton of excitement when we spied a giant ferris wheel in the movie theater parking lot, just off the highway, as we were driving to a friend’s house on Thursday. I did a little research and learned that the fair would be in town through Sunday. We had no real plans for the weekend, so it was pretty much a given- we had to go.
Of course, the kids were so excited when I told them we were going. They knew that they would not be tall enough to ride the ferris wheel, but were still really excited just to see it in person and to watch other people ride it. Tiny wanted to watch me ride it, but I told her I would wait until she grew big enough to ride it with me. Instead, we rode the carousel (twice), a boat ride that went back and forth and around and around, a small dragon roller coaster, and the crazy school bus ride that goes up and down in a circular motion (sort of like a ferris wheel, but much smaller). Buba and Tiny were tall enough to go on the train ride (a ride where no adults were allowed), and they also enjoyed jumping and sliding in the bouncy house. T and I each played a game of skee-ball (we won nothing), and the kids played the pick a duck game and each won some bubbles in a ducky shaped container. We decided to end our fair experience by sharing a piece of fried dough covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Mmmmmmmm.
Once the tickets were gone and our bellies were full, Buba and Tiny had no issues with leaving. Tiny announced, once again, that eating the fried dough was her favorite part of the fair, but she also enjoyed seeing the ferris wheel and riding the boat ride. When asked what he liked best, Buba replied, “I had a VERY LOT of FUN!” Too much fun to pick out just one thing, I suppose.
Boston to Austin
Last week, I spent 2.5 days (Thursday- Saturday) in Austin. By myself!
I’m not going to lie. There were definitely moments when I missed my family. Especially T. I thought numerous times how much fun it would be if he were there with me. But the majority of the time, I was just so happy to soak up the enormous amount of me time I had on my hands. I got to spend Thursday night with Sadia, a blogger friend who I’d never met in person (more on that in another post), and spent a good amount of time both Friday and Saturday catching up with college friends (we were all down there for a friend’s wedding). I got my nails done. I got my hair and makeup done (I was a bridesmaid). I ate Tex-Mex and BBQ. I danced my little heart out. And I stayed out late all three nights. It was awesome!
On Sunday, T and the kids came to the airport to pick me up. I had a little toy airplane for both Tiny and Buba and a big hug and a kiss for T. As I got in the minivan, T looked at me and said, “We missed Mommy!” I wanted to respond with “Yeah you did.” knowing that he’d probably gotten a heavy dose of all the parenting stuff I deal with on a daily basis while he’s a work. But instead, I just smiled and said, “I missed you too!” Which was true.
I’m All Out of Pesto
Tiny stands before her play kitchen…
Tiny: Mama, would you like some pasta?
Me: Sure! I love pasta. Can I have it with pesto please?
Tiny: I’m all out of pesto (she says as she scoops imaginary pasta into a bowl).
Me: Hmmm… Could you pretend that you have some pesto?
Tiny: No, I mean it, I’m all out of pesto. Here. Eat it.
Me: (pretending to eat) It’s pretty good. Thank you.
Buba decides to get in on the action…
Buba: Mommy?
Me: Yes, Buba?
Buba: And do you want some more pasta?
Me: Sure! I love pasta.
Buba: OK. (He’s very serious as he prepares my plate.)
Me: Could I have it with some pesto, please?
Buba: No. I already ate it all.
Me: You did? And did you know that I wanted pesto on my pasta?
Buba: Yes, I did!
Me: Oh. That makes me very sad.
Buba: (scoops his fork into thin air) Here you go! Here’s some pesto for you! Eat it! (big smile)
Dealing with Nightmares
A few weeks ago, a woman from my new mothers’ group (yeah, that one I joined when my kids were just weeks old!) recently posted a message that her daughter was having frequent nightmares. I was very surprised when a week went by and no one else in the group had responded (Normally, it’s a pretty active message board. I read it, but don’t usually post anything.). So, having just a little bit of experience in this area, I decided to reply to her post. This is what I wrote to her…
Tiny definitely has some nightmares from time to time. Usually she calms down pretty quickly once T or I go in, but one time it took over an hour to calm her down and then she had a lot of trouble going back to sleep, as she was just so terrified. She was convinced that there were bugs in her bed and refused to lie down. She finally crouched down in one corner and ended up falling asleep all scrunched up in that one corner. It was so sad.
Some recommendations we’ve been given and some things we’ve tried:
*For some reason, changing the sheets after a nightmare has made all the difference in the world.
*A friend recommended goodnight spray, which is basically water (you can add lemon juice or something to add a scent) in a spray bottle that you and your child can spray around the room at bedtime to keep the room safe from whatever the feared thing is.
*Another friend said that you have to kind of play along with the fear instead of trying to rationalize it away. For example, one night, Buba was complaining that there was a crocodile in his bed. Clearly, there was not. But rather than explain to him that their was no crocodile in his bed, I very calmly and seriously reached in and pulled the crocodile out. Then I went to the front door, opened it, threw the crocodile out and yelled that crocodiles are not allowed in our house. Buba accepted this action, and there’s been no mention of crocodiles in the bed ever since.
I just got an email back from that woman. She said that they had tried all of my suggestions, and they seem to be working. Their house has been nightmare free for almost a week now. So, I figured I’d pass this knowledge on to others. Know of anything else that helps little ones when they’re having nightmares?