Since we're talking about monumental firsts, I just wanted to share that the babe almost mastered the art of tying shoe laces today and the little guy had his first poop on the potty. And guess what? These things were occurring simultaneously on different floors of our house this afternoon. The babe and her Papa downstairs and the little guy and I upstairs. How cool is that?
The babe and I got up early and hauled ourselves to the mall to go to a "shoe tying class." I honestly thought this would teach both the babe and I some handy tips ( I had, after all, given up my coveted sleep in morning). But it turns out those department store guys don't know much more than I do about teaching kids this tricky skill.
What it did do is inspire the babe and help us take the training a few steps further at home. As you may recall, the babe is easily frustrated and is not a fan of not "getting" things the first time she tries. This means that we, her father and I, need to be insanely patient when tackling new projects with her. And I am thrilled to announce that all the patience, and the tag team parental effort, brought us pretty darn close to solidifying this critical skill. I am sure a good nights sleep will help her internalize the magic of tying laces.
So while the babe and her Papa were working away in the living room, the little guy and I were just hanging out...and apparently he was busy having a big poop. So I hauled him upstairs to change him. Not to get too detailed, but before I slapped on the new diaper, I asked him if he was all done with his poops. He said, "No. Potty." I didn't question his directions and carried him over to the potty. Within 30 seconds he had pushed out the last bit of remaining poop as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Needless to say, I was pretty psyched. I cleaned him up, we washed our hands and went back for that clean diaper. The little guy was pretty thrilled to announce to his Papa what he had accomplished on his trip upstairs. He kept hugging my husband and my heart melted.
Some days it seems like we're not really going anywhere or accomplishing anything. Other days it seems like my munchkins' childhood is speeding by. It's a good thing there's a bit of balance, though. Because days like this make up for a lot of the crap.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Enter Reading
Last Friday I went to the babe's class to read with the kids. The first time I did this last fall, I thought I'd be reading stories to the class. But I had it the wrong way around. The kids read stories to me.
It is quite amazing to have these little people read to you. Something I have taken for granted for so long is a huge challenge for my daughter and her classmates. I can't really remember learning to read but sitting with kids who are reading for the first time is an amazing thing. You can see their brains working overtime as they sound things out and put letters together.
As the babe is in a Montessori school, kids learn at their own pace. I highly support this approach, but I was a tad concerned after leaving the babe's class last Friday as she had not hit the phase in her education where the teachers thought she was ready to sit down with a beginner book. We all know it's not good to compare your children to others, but I was left wondering what was wrong with the babe? How come some of her classmates, who are the same age, are already "reading" at school and she isn't?
Timing is a funny thing. On Tuesday I picked the babe up and guess what she excitedly announced? "Mama! Miss. Faye rang the bell and announced to the whole class that I was ready to read my first book! I got to sit with her and read Dot!"
Not only did she get to read Dot at school, she brought it home to read it to us as well. It was a beautiful thing and I was so ridiculously proud.
The fun didn't end with Dot. Yesterday the babe got to read Sam. And yet again, she brought her new book home to read to us. After working through the newly formed habit of relying heavily on pictures to read (more like remember) the words, the babe proved to us that she was able to get through the whole book without looking at any of the pictures.
So here we go on a brand new adventure. My daughter, who was just a 4 month old baby only 4 years ago, is starting to read. It's amazing what can happen in such a short time.
It is quite amazing to have these little people read to you. Something I have taken for granted for so long is a huge challenge for my daughter and her classmates. I can't really remember learning to read but sitting with kids who are reading for the first time is an amazing thing. You can see their brains working overtime as they sound things out and put letters together.
As the babe is in a Montessori school, kids learn at their own pace. I highly support this approach, but I was a tad concerned after leaving the babe's class last Friday as she had not hit the phase in her education where the teachers thought she was ready to sit down with a beginner book. We all know it's not good to compare your children to others, but I was left wondering what was wrong with the babe? How come some of her classmates, who are the same age, are already "reading" at school and she isn't?
Timing is a funny thing. On Tuesday I picked the babe up and guess what she excitedly announced? "Mama! Miss. Faye rang the bell and announced to the whole class that I was ready to read my first book! I got to sit with her and read Dot!"
Not only did she get to read Dot at school, she brought it home to read it to us as well. It was a beautiful thing and I was so ridiculously proud.
The fun didn't end with Dot. Yesterday the babe got to read Sam. And yet again, she brought her new book home to read to us. After working through the newly formed habit of relying heavily on pictures to read (more like remember) the words, the babe proved to us that she was able to get through the whole book without looking at any of the pictures.
So here we go on a brand new adventure. My daughter, who was just a 4 month old baby only 4 years ago, is starting to read. It's amazing what can happen in such a short time.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Getting Involved
I now realize I was making a HUGE mistake. My desire to get things done quicker, was in fact hurting her self esteem and creating a situation where she would act out just to get attention. By not getting her involved, I was sending her a message that she didn't have the skills required to contribute. And what kind of lesson is that for a parent to teach to their kid?
So how does that connect to the picture of my bandaged finger?
On Friday afternoon I asked the babe if she'd like to help me prepare some eggplant for dinner. I've been trying to introduce more vegetables to the kiddies and have read that if children are involved in the prep work, they are more likely to eat the end product.
So we got out the cutting board and moved her stool over to the counter after washing our hands. She was pretty psyched to help out and I was curious to see if she'd end up digging this funky purple vegetable. I was also in a bit of a rush as we had been at the park and I wanted to get the eggplant roasted in time for dinner.
The babe has a habit of setting up her stool in a location which kind of pushes me into the corner. As I was conscious of the time, I didn't bother repositioning her. Meanwhile the little guy, who isn't so much of a kitchen helper at this point, was just running around and repeatedly banging into us. Things were moving along well until SLICE.
Yes folks, I had sliced into the tip of my ring finger. It was a good healthy slice which luckily stopped before the whole tip of the finger had been removed. It was, however, a serious cut which proceeded to bleed profusely for at least half an hour. I panicked and completely lost my marbles. I was having a serious crying fit while trying to explain to the babe that I was, despite how I was acting, quite fine.
After deciding against going to the ER in rush hour with 2 kids, I decided to buck up. I taped on some paper towels and continued on with feeding the kids, drinking some wine, and cleaning up the kitchen (in that order).
So the moral of today's story is not to rush when getting your kids involved in projects. As parents we want to teach our children the right way to handle things, and I'm afraid I didn't do such a good job of that on Friday! And by the way, she didn't like the eggplant.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Two Stories and Three Little Birds
One of today's stories is gross and made me smile. The other story is sweet and made me smile.
I'll start with the gross one.
My husband has been working late a lot recently which has meant that I'm on bath/bed time duty solo. I can usually handle it due to my nightly practice of working on regaining a positive attitude as I clean the kitchen after dinner chaos and the kids watch a little chill out TV.
So last night was a solo night and I had the babe agree that she was going to be my "helper." This usually means she will be less likely to compete with her brother for the title of most crazed and annoyingly behaved bath time kid. As I was getting things ready, I realized that the little guy wasn't playing with his sister, as I had thought. I went searching and quickly discovered that he was in our bedroom. I ran in and found the bathroom door closed. I opened it and found the toilet room door (or whatever people call it) closed. I opened it. Guess what I found?
My son standing proudly with the toilet cleaner brush up by his nose and mouth. I don't want to know what this kid was doing with the toilet brush...I just want to pretend it didn't happen. I dragged him to the sink and gave his hands and face a good wash while repeating to myself, "gross.....gross....gross."
I managed to get them both in the bath and things went fairly smoothly for about a minute until the little guy decided it was splashing time. So I got them both washed up quickly and got the babe standing to do the big rinse off. The little guy started whining and the babe looked at him and started singing, "Don't worry, about a thing." Then I kicked in, "Cause every little thing, is gonna be alright."
She looked at me stunned. As in, "how would my Mama know anything about this music?" I asked her where she had heard the song. "Miss Mary's room," she replied. "Do you know that's Bob Marley, sweetie?" I asked. She wasn't aware of the man who made this song famous, what he stood for, or what this song has meant to me in the past. But I tell ya, I just thought it was so cool that my 4 year old daughter just whipped out some classic Bob Marley in an attempt to make her brother happy.
In honour of the wise man, and to put a spring in your step this Friday afternoon, I present Bob Marley's Three Little Birds:
Don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!
Rise up this mornin,
Smiled with the risin sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin, (this is my message to you-ou-ou:)
Singin: don't worry bout a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry (don't worry) bout a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!
Rise up this mornin,
Smiled with the risin sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin, this is my message to you-ou-ou:
Singin: don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be all right. don't worry!
Singin: don't worry about a thing - I wont worry!
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right - I wont worry!
Singin: don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry about a thing, oh no!
cause every little thing gonna be all right!
I'll start with the gross one.
My husband has been working late a lot recently which has meant that I'm on bath/bed time duty solo. I can usually handle it due to my nightly practice of working on regaining a positive attitude as I clean the kitchen after dinner chaos and the kids watch a little chill out TV.
So last night was a solo night and I had the babe agree that she was going to be my "helper." This usually means she will be less likely to compete with her brother for the title of most crazed and annoyingly behaved bath time kid. As I was getting things ready, I realized that the little guy wasn't playing with his sister, as I had thought. I went searching and quickly discovered that he was in our bedroom. I ran in and found the bathroom door closed. I opened it and found the toilet room door (or whatever people call it) closed. I opened it. Guess what I found?
My son standing proudly with the toilet cleaner brush up by his nose and mouth. I don't want to know what this kid was doing with the toilet brush...I just want to pretend it didn't happen. I dragged him to the sink and gave his hands and face a good wash while repeating to myself, "gross.....gross....gross."
I managed to get them both in the bath and things went fairly smoothly for about a minute until the little guy decided it was splashing time. So I got them both washed up quickly and got the babe standing to do the big rinse off. The little guy started whining and the babe looked at him and started singing, "Don't worry, about a thing." Then I kicked in, "Cause every little thing, is gonna be alright."
She looked at me stunned. As in, "how would my Mama know anything about this music?" I asked her where she had heard the song. "Miss Mary's room," she replied. "Do you know that's Bob Marley, sweetie?" I asked. She wasn't aware of the man who made this song famous, what he stood for, or what this song has meant to me in the past. But I tell ya, I just thought it was so cool that my 4 year old daughter just whipped out some classic Bob Marley in an attempt to make her brother happy.
In honour of the wise man, and to put a spring in your step this Friday afternoon, I present Bob Marley's Three Little Birds:
Don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!
Rise up this mornin,
Smiled with the risin sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin, (this is my message to you-ou-ou:)
Singin: don't worry bout a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry (don't worry) bout a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!
Rise up this mornin,
Smiled with the risin sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin, this is my message to you-ou-ou:
Singin: don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be all right. don't worry!
Singin: don't worry about a thing - I wont worry!
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right - I wont worry!
Singin: don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: don't worry about a thing, oh no!
cause every little thing gonna be all right!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Catching Up
The babe was home from school for 11 days straight. And you know what? We made it!
Spring break is a wonderful concept, but it has the ability to really mess with your schedule. Luckily my amazing Mom flew down from Ottawa and helped take care of the kids, the house, and me.
In the week she was here, we managed to take the kids to the National Museum of Natural History (LOVE IT!), the National Building Museum (not a whole lot of love for this one), Costco, the shoe store, and the park (numerous times). In addition, I managed to take myself to the dentist (yuck and ouch), for a (Groupon inspired) massage (yum), for a baseline mammogram (it wasn't that bad and I'm gratefully in the clear), and on a variety of solo shopping quests (yes, shopping for just moi). Oh, and I managed to go on a dinner date with my Mom, and ANOTHER dinner date with my husband. Not too shabby!
I also spent six hours with the babe at the allergist's office doing her second "food challenge," this time with sesame. She slowly ate measured pieces of bread with fake cream cheese and sesame seeds over a period of a few hours. And I am so pleased to announce that she passed her sesame challenge and is officially able to enjoy sesame in whatever she pleases (bring on the hummus!). This is super good news because she has now outgrown 2 of her allergies (the first was egg, which we cleared last month). According to her doctor, things look good for outgrowing the majority of the remaining ones (although the babe will likely have to live with her peanut allergy for the rest of her life). I have spent about 17 hours in the same small room at the allergist's office since last month, and every minute has been worth it. I really can't explain how awesome it is to see your kids move beyond a food allergy.
As you can see, it was quite a week here. After all the excitement, it was odd to go back to our old routine on Monday. My Mom had left, the babe headed back to school, and all of a sudden the little guy and I were left staring at each other. Unfortunately his classes don't start up again until next week, so we've been drifting through the days and catching up with fun things like groceries and laundry. I did however take him to the community center gym to run around for an hour this morning...so I'm not as evil as it sounds.
Anyway, I had no real deep message about how I've grown as a parent in the last few weeks, but I did want to let you know I'm still standing...even after 11 days straight with my kiddies.
Spring break is a wonderful concept, but it has the ability to really mess with your schedule. Luckily my amazing Mom flew down from Ottawa and helped take care of the kids, the house, and me.
In the week she was here, we managed to take the kids to the National Museum of Natural History (LOVE IT!), the National Building Museum (not a whole lot of love for this one), Costco, the shoe store, and the park (numerous times). In addition, I managed to take myself to the dentist (yuck and ouch), for a (Groupon inspired) massage (yum), for a baseline mammogram (it wasn't that bad and I'm gratefully in the clear), and on a variety of solo shopping quests (yes, shopping for just moi). Oh, and I managed to go on a dinner date with my Mom, and ANOTHER dinner date with my husband. Not too shabby!
I also spent six hours with the babe at the allergist's office doing her second "food challenge," this time with sesame. She slowly ate measured pieces of bread with fake cream cheese and sesame seeds over a period of a few hours. And I am so pleased to announce that she passed her sesame challenge and is officially able to enjoy sesame in whatever she pleases (bring on the hummus!). This is super good news because she has now outgrown 2 of her allergies (the first was egg, which we cleared last month). According to her doctor, things look good for outgrowing the majority of the remaining ones (although the babe will likely have to live with her peanut allergy for the rest of her life). I have spent about 17 hours in the same small room at the allergist's office since last month, and every minute has been worth it. I really can't explain how awesome it is to see your kids move beyond a food allergy.
As you can see, it was quite a week here. After all the excitement, it was odd to go back to our old routine on Monday. My Mom had left, the babe headed back to school, and all of a sudden the little guy and I were left staring at each other. Unfortunately his classes don't start up again until next week, so we've been drifting through the days and catching up with fun things like groceries and laundry. I did however take him to the community center gym to run around for an hour this morning...so I'm not as evil as it sounds.
Anyway, I had no real deep message about how I've grown as a parent in the last few weeks, but I did want to let you know I'm still standing...even after 11 days straight with my kiddies.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Perspective
As part of my positive parenting shift, I have been trying to let go of things I can't control, or that are not worth trying to control. And what I'm learning is that it feel good to let go. It feels liberating to loosen the reigns. And I am now in a position where I am looking for things that I can stop worrying about. One of the things I no longer stress about is my daughter's ridiculous and at times inappropriate fashion sense.
Part of growing up is learning how to dress yourself. I will admit that I was, until recently, pretty controlling in this department with my daughter. I felt I had a better sense of her daily needs and the most recent forecast information. There's just so much about clothing choice that my young child could not grasp, so to keep her her warm (or cool) and dry, I would choose every item she put on.
Eventually we started fighting about what she was going to wear. I still thought I should be making these decisions so I would allow myself to engage in these battles. There's no better way to start off your morning than a screaming match with a preschooler over clothes.
I have now come to my senses. The babe decides what to wear, puts it on, and usually struts into our room to show off her amazing abilities to choose her outfit and cloth herself. It is awesome, and I don't care that she looks like a nut most of the time (and I also don't care about all the put together kids at her school because they probably aren't getting to learn how to be independent and to take care of themselves!).
Sadly I allowed myself to fall into my old ways this morning. She came in with a tank top type dress (with leggings) that her Uncle and Aunt had bought her in Argentina. It is a very stylin' little number, but it is still cool here in DC and I didn't want her runny nose or cough to get worse, so I casually mentioned/suggested that she may be more comfortable if she put a shirt on underneath the dress.
The babe did not like being told what to do and pretty much refused to change. She grabbed a polar fleece and said she'd wear that to keep warm. Trouble is I know she'd take it off the second she was at school and you couldn't even see the cute dress underneath the fleece (which incidentally her Nana had bought for her in Scotland).
I managed to rummage in her dresser and pull out a sparkly T-Shirt she LOVES which had been stuck at the back of the drawer for some time. She immediately agreed and put it on under the dress. Mission accomplished, I thought to myself.
When I dropped her off at her class she immediately walked in and pulled up her dress to show the first kid she saw her very cool T-Shirt. I'll admit it bugged me that she was pulling up her dress as that's not really the kind of thing I want my daughter doing so confidently in public.
I shrugged and turned to leave when I saw a young girl in the hallway one classroom down looking through her cubby. Only thing is, she was looking through her cubby naked from the waist down. Hmmm. Guess there's no point in worrying about the babe showing off her T-Shirt!
At the end of the day, I suppose I just have to keep it all in perspective.
Part of growing up is learning how to dress yourself. I will admit that I was, until recently, pretty controlling in this department with my daughter. I felt I had a better sense of her daily needs and the most recent forecast information. There's just so much about clothing choice that my young child could not grasp, so to keep her her warm (or cool) and dry, I would choose every item she put on.
Eventually we started fighting about what she was going to wear. I still thought I should be making these decisions so I would allow myself to engage in these battles. There's no better way to start off your morning than a screaming match with a preschooler over clothes.
I have now come to my senses. The babe decides what to wear, puts it on, and usually struts into our room to show off her amazing abilities to choose her outfit and cloth herself. It is awesome, and I don't care that she looks like a nut most of the time (and I also don't care about all the put together kids at her school because they probably aren't getting to learn how to be independent and to take care of themselves!).
Sadly I allowed myself to fall into my old ways this morning. She came in with a tank top type dress (with leggings) that her Uncle and Aunt had bought her in Argentina. It is a very stylin' little number, but it is still cool here in DC and I didn't want her runny nose or cough to get worse, so I casually mentioned/suggested that she may be more comfortable if she put a shirt on underneath the dress.
The babe did not like being told what to do and pretty much refused to change. She grabbed a polar fleece and said she'd wear that to keep warm. Trouble is I know she'd take it off the second she was at school and you couldn't even see the cute dress underneath the fleece (which incidentally her Nana had bought for her in Scotland).
I managed to rummage in her dresser and pull out a sparkly T-Shirt she LOVES which had been stuck at the back of the drawer for some time. She immediately agreed and put it on under the dress. Mission accomplished, I thought to myself.
When I dropped her off at her class she immediately walked in and pulled up her dress to show the first kid she saw her very cool T-Shirt. I'll admit it bugged me that she was pulling up her dress as that's not really the kind of thing I want my daughter doing so confidently in public.
I shrugged and turned to leave when I saw a young girl in the hallway one classroom down looking through her cubby. Only thing is, she was looking through her cubby naked from the waist down. Hmmm. Guess there's no point in worrying about the babe showing off her T-Shirt!
At the end of the day, I suppose I just have to keep it all in perspective.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Overanalysis?
This week I had a moment of panic. Am I over analyzing all this parenting stuff? Am I over thinking every decision and what its potential impact on my children may be? Does it mean that I'm slightly crazy because I'm taking a parenting class? In fact, does it make me even crazier that I have just signed up for the second session of this parenting class?
This was all brought about because I had my annual visit to the OB-GYN doctor. I think my doctor is awesome. She's smart, young, easy to talk to, and always makes you feel better about things (like telling you it's OK you were drinking beer before you knew you were actually pregnant).
But this week, while she reassured me that everything looks good with my body, she didn't reassure me about my parenting. In fact, my doctor's comments made me question myself and the fact that I have pretty much dedicated myself to tackling this positive parenting stuff. I mentioned to her that I was taking this class because I was really struggling with my "spirited" preschooler. She made a few comments about how my daughter was just a normal kid and that it all goes with the territory.
As I have mentioned, I am taking my course work seriously and am really trying to apply what I'm learning in the class room and in my text book to my daily life as a Mom.
I spent a good chunk of time wondering if my doc was right (and I don't like spending good chunks of valuable time questioning myself). I brought this up with my husband, and in explaining the story to him, I came to the realization of why my doc didn't understand what I was talking about. My doctor, as awesome as she is, has not yet become a Mother herself. She has helped many women become Mothers (such as yours truly), but she has never been in the challenging situations in which I find myself daily (she faces much different daily challenges, I'm sure!).
As soon as I came to that realization, the questioning stopped. And that's a good place to be.
This was all brought about because I had my annual visit to the OB-GYN doctor. I think my doctor is awesome. She's smart, young, easy to talk to, and always makes you feel better about things (like telling you it's OK you were drinking beer before you knew you were actually pregnant).
But this week, while she reassured me that everything looks good with my body, she didn't reassure me about my parenting. In fact, my doctor's comments made me question myself and the fact that I have pretty much dedicated myself to tackling this positive parenting stuff. I mentioned to her that I was taking this class because I was really struggling with my "spirited" preschooler. She made a few comments about how my daughter was just a normal kid and that it all goes with the territory.
As I have mentioned, I am taking my course work seriously and am really trying to apply what I'm learning in the class room and in my text book to my daily life as a Mom.
I spent a good chunk of time wondering if my doc was right (and I don't like spending good chunks of valuable time questioning myself). I brought this up with my husband, and in explaining the story to him, I came to the realization of why my doc didn't understand what I was talking about. My doctor, as awesome as she is, has not yet become a Mother herself. She has helped many women become Mothers (such as yours truly), but she has never been in the challenging situations in which I find myself daily (she faces much different daily challenges, I'm sure!).
As soon as I came to that realization, the questioning stopped. And that's a good place to be.
In the Kitchen
I just wanted to share a few "in the kitchen" successes of the past week.
I have been experimenting with making granola bars lately as the babe can't eat store bought ones because of her food allergies. I have always been a fan of the granola bar and thought it would be a nice addition to her lunch box.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I tried a new recipe on Tuesday which I was quite a fan of. We do vegetarian dinners on Tuesdays so I am always on the look out for easy and yummy veggie meals. This week I took a magazine recipe and gave it a whirl. You can grab the recipe by clicking here: Chickpeas With Chard and Pan-Roasted Tomatoes.
I have been experimenting with making granola bars lately as the babe can't eat store bought ones because of her food allergies. I have always been a fan of the granola bar and thought it would be a nice addition to her lunch box.
This week I created a Chewy Chocolate Chip Banana Granola Bar recipe that I am happy with:
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter (non-dairy kind for us)
1/3 c. honey5 c. granola
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
½ cup chocolate chips (non-dairy kind)1 mushed up banana
1 beaten egg (because we can do that now!)
½ cup applesauce
- In a saucepan combine brown sugar, butter and honey. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly.
- Stir together granola and whole wheat flour. Pour brown sugar mixture over granola mixture. Stir until granola mixture is well coated.
- Add egg, applesauce and banana. Stir well.
- Add chocolate chips. Stir well again.
- Press mixture into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
- Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I tried a new recipe on Tuesday which I was quite a fan of. We do vegetarian dinners on Tuesdays so I am always on the look out for easy and yummy veggie meals. This week I took a magazine recipe and gave it a whirl. You can grab the recipe by clicking here: Chickpeas With Chard and Pan-Roasted Tomatoes.I should have used the good camera for this shot as you can't really see all the stuff going on in this dish, but it has tomatoes, rainbow chard, raisins, garlic, chickpeas and lemon juice. It was an explosion of a lot of very interesting flavours and I am looking forward to making it again. It has also made me a fan of chard which can only be a good thing.
Feel free to share any great foodie finds from your kitchen and have a great weekend!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Alarm
Sometimes I think that new ideas from my parenting class will never work in our home. This isn't the best attitude because how do you really know unless you try, right?
So the other day, when it was almost time to leave the park, I asked the babe if it would help if I set the alarm on my phone to go off when it was time to go to the car. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I'd get as I only pulled this on her about 10 minutes before my desired departure time. She looked at me from mid-swing and said "Sure, Mama."
I fiddled around with the phone until I managed to set the alarm (it was my first time) and I let her choose the ringer sound (a Rooster crowing). I told her it was now set to go off in 10 minutes and when it went off, we were going to have to listen to it.
I highly doubted she would pay any attention when it went off and I was fully expecting a battle over leaving. When we were close to the 10 minutes I took the phone out of my pocket so the alarm would be heard loud and clear. And off it went. Cockadoodledoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I looked at the babe, smiled and asked her what that meant. She said "It's time to go, Mama."
Amazing.
When someone had suggested I set an alarm at the park during my parenting class this week, I had been laughing at the idea in my head. "The babe will never fall for that," I thought.
Well guess who's laughing now? Yep, still me. I am hoping that I have discovered a new magic way to end our regular battles over leaving the park. The alarm speaks for itself, and I am no longer the bad guy.
So the other day, when it was almost time to leave the park, I asked the babe if it would help if I set the alarm on my phone to go off when it was time to go to the car. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I'd get as I only pulled this on her about 10 minutes before my desired departure time. She looked at me from mid-swing and said "Sure, Mama."
I fiddled around with the phone until I managed to set the alarm (it was my first time) and I let her choose the ringer sound (a Rooster crowing). I told her it was now set to go off in 10 minutes and when it went off, we were going to have to listen to it.
I highly doubted she would pay any attention when it went off and I was fully expecting a battle over leaving. When we were close to the 10 minutes I took the phone out of my pocket so the alarm would be heard loud and clear. And off it went. Cockadoodledoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I looked at the babe, smiled and asked her what that meant. She said "It's time to go, Mama."
Amazing.
When someone had suggested I set an alarm at the park during my parenting class this week, I had been laughing at the idea in my head. "The babe will never fall for that," I thought.
Well guess who's laughing now? Yep, still me. I am hoping that I have discovered a new magic way to end our regular battles over leaving the park. The alarm speaks for itself, and I am no longer the bad guy.
OK
My lovely son is now at an age where he will reply "OK" to me.
I will be busy doing something and he will ask for another thing. If I cannot meet his need I will give a brief explanation as to why he will have to wait, or I will tell him to "please wait a minute."
And for the past few weeks I have been hearing a sweet little "OK" as the response. I have to say it melts my heart. Just like when he started saying "sorry."
He is beginning to understand that these are important words because they involve a true interaction with another human. It's verbal communication and it's awesome.
Honestly, it makes me feel like after 2 years of mostly talking at him, I am now speaking with him. This is a critical development because babies don't do that, and now my little love bug does.
I will be busy doing something and he will ask for another thing. If I cannot meet his need I will give a brief explanation as to why he will have to wait, or I will tell him to "please wait a minute."
And for the past few weeks I have been hearing a sweet little "OK" as the response. I have to say it melts my heart. Just like when he started saying "sorry."
He is beginning to understand that these are important words because they involve a true interaction with another human. It's verbal communication and it's awesome.
Honestly, it makes me feel like after 2 years of mostly talking at him, I am now speaking with him. This is a critical development because babies don't do that, and now my little love bug does.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)