Wow, Christmas with a two (almost 2 1/2) year old is a FAR different experience than Christmas with an infant!
There was lots of good stuff about it. Monkey had so much more of an understanding of Christmas (well, at least the commercial aspects of it). For at least a month beforehand, we've been talking about Santa, elves, snowmen, Christmas trees, presents, and Christmas lights, and he has delighted in seeing all the decorations when we've bee out. We got to do some fun and easy craft projects, like painting some "glass" (i.e. plastic) ornaments to give to our teachers and family members, and making Santa door hangers that Monkey decided really belonged on the tree. We practiced looking at, but trying not to touch all of the pretty ornaments and presents. We had a daily Christmas countdown, complete with a small piece of chocolate each day. And we looked every morning for Sophie, our Elf on the Shelf, who somehow managed to find new places to watch Monkey every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve (although I think she MIGHT make her appearance a tad later next year - I'm just sayin'...). We saw Santa at the mall and at a farm, and Monkey worked up increasing amounts of courage to talk to him and ask him for presents, although he never did get comfortable with sitting on the old guy's lap (and really, can you blame him?). And we watched Curious George and Elmo Christmas DVDs more times that I care to remember at the moment...
But, alas, now that it's over, we've got the inevitable letdown. Monkey still asks where Sophie is every morning, and still wants to do his Christmas countdown. When we moved his new kitchen set down to his playroom one night while he was sleeping, he asked Daddy the next day if Santa took it back! (that one still breaks my heart). And when he got to school yesterday, after four days off with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and Auntie, he cried when it was time for me to leave. :-( Poor guy - as fun as it was to ramp up the excitement, I guess I never really considered the after-shock. The good news is that we still have one more family exchange this Friday, after a semi-normal school/work week and no more visitors at the house, so hopefully that will help with the transition somewhat. But next week Daddy is back on the road for work, and we're gonna have to figure out how to entertain ourselves for the rest of what is looking like a long, cold winter! I'm thinking some trips to the Children's Museum need to get planned, pronto!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Day Care Double Standard
First off, I realize I didn't post yesterday - Way to stick to my renewed blogging commitment for two whole days, huh?
But, in my defense, I sort of have an excuse, and it's sort of tied to the subject of this post.
Monkey wasn't feeling 100% yesterday, and to top it off, his Daddy was reduced to a whimpering pile of mucous, becoming more of a hindrance than a help. Just one of those days, and I was exhausted by the time the boys got to bed.
But here's the question: Was Monkey "sick"? As in, could I still send him to day care today? (Monkey goes every other day, so we didn't have this dilemma yesterday...) Well, I asked myself this question, and decided to tally up Monkey's symptoms.
For starters, there was a very runny nose, which started over the weekend, and has caused us to run through our share of Kleenex and "I do it" moments (Yes, Monkey prefers to wipe his own nose, which often results in the snot being smeared all over his face - gotta love toddler independence). But a runny nose is practically a REQUIREMENT in day care, particularly at this time of year. I can't tell you the number of times I have dropped Monkey off, only to glance about the room and see just about every single kid with matching snot lines running from their noses to their mouths - apparently it's quite the fashion statement among the toddler day care crowd?
Next, a cough, again picked up in the past couple of days. Just your basic cough, which he seems to get and lose every few weeks or so this time of year, and not a particular reason for concern. Although he did have a bit of a spell Monday night, which woke him up crying and struggling a bit. But once he got some water and relaxed again, he was fine. And both runny noses and coughs are expressly listed in the day care manual as "OK to send to school," which we've done more than once.
But, as evening came, he started to feel a bit warm. In an effort to avoid the discomfort of the rectal thermometer, I tried one of those strips you hold up to their forehead. Those things basically suck, but I have had them work when Monkey's been burning up, so while I don't trust it to give me anything near a precise reading, I do expect it to give me a quick read as to whether we're in fever territory. Last night, however, I couldn't even get it all the way UP to normal. Yeah, I'm thinking that's wrong. So on to the digital thermometer under the arm. Squirming toddler + arm measurement = false "normal." So with apologies to Monkey, we went for the accurate reading, which was about 100.5 before I finally concluded we were "close enough" and took it out to soothe his complaints. Not a particularly high temp, and within the range that, even if he couldn't be in the classroom, he could be in the "sick bay." Hmmm...
Miscellaneous symptoms included first-time ever complaint that "my tummy hurts," followed by "tummy OK now" after some follow-up questions over the next hour. (And, can I just say, this is one of the great things about him becoming more communicative? I'm still not 100% sure if he had a tummy ache or not, but I look forward to the day when he can REALLY tell me what's bothering him). And one not-so-pleasant diaper change - I'll spare the details, but it wasn't a clear-cut problem either.
So herein lies the double standard: As an already tired Mommy who is supposed to be using day care days to do actual work to bring money into the house, all signs point to sending Monkey to day care. He really seems to just have a cold, not the dreaded flu, and the day care checklist suggests he's OK to go. But as the Mommy of a toddler who wants MY son to stay as healthy as possible, and is really hoping we can avoid the flu this year, I can't help but put myself in the shoes of the other mommies in the class, who would probably prefer that Monkey stay home. So who wins, Tired Mommy or PC Mommy?
And does the answer depend on the fact that this is day care, where parents usually have no choice but to send their kids, but also understand that they're going to be exposed to various germs, and just hope that this will give them loads of antibodies to make them super-healthy kindergartners? What if Monkey were scheduled not to be in day care, but a paid class of some kind - sports, music, what have you? Does the fact that these kids are more likely of the stay-at-home variety mean that they haven't "signed on" to the same risks of catching colds? But what about the fact that we're all paying for those classes? Does that mean we're entitled to try to get our money's worth, as long as the situation isn't more serious? And what about free activities - certainly those seem the easiest case for the "keep your kid away" approach - you don't HAVE to engage in that activity on that day, and no one there invited Typhoon Toddler or is benefiting from his presence...
Bottom line? It's tough being able to see both sides, yet being the one who has to make the decision.
But, in my defense, I sort of have an excuse, and it's sort of tied to the subject of this post.
Monkey wasn't feeling 100% yesterday, and to top it off, his Daddy was reduced to a whimpering pile of mucous, becoming more of a hindrance than a help. Just one of those days, and I was exhausted by the time the boys got to bed.
But here's the question: Was Monkey "sick"? As in, could I still send him to day care today? (Monkey goes every other day, so we didn't have this dilemma yesterday...) Well, I asked myself this question, and decided to tally up Monkey's symptoms.
For starters, there was a very runny nose, which started over the weekend, and has caused us to run through our share of Kleenex and "I do it" moments (Yes, Monkey prefers to wipe his own nose, which often results in the snot being smeared all over his face - gotta love toddler independence). But a runny nose is practically a REQUIREMENT in day care, particularly at this time of year. I can't tell you the number of times I have dropped Monkey off, only to glance about the room and see just about every single kid with matching snot lines running from their noses to their mouths - apparently it's quite the fashion statement among the toddler day care crowd?
Next, a cough, again picked up in the past couple of days. Just your basic cough, which he seems to get and lose every few weeks or so this time of year, and not a particular reason for concern. Although he did have a bit of a spell Monday night, which woke him up crying and struggling a bit. But once he got some water and relaxed again, he was fine. And both runny noses and coughs are expressly listed in the day care manual as "OK to send to school," which we've done more than once.
But, as evening came, he started to feel a bit warm. In an effort to avoid the discomfort of the rectal thermometer, I tried one of those strips you hold up to their forehead. Those things basically suck, but I have had them work when Monkey's been burning up, so while I don't trust it to give me anything near a precise reading, I do expect it to give me a quick read as to whether we're in fever territory. Last night, however, I couldn't even get it all the way UP to normal. Yeah, I'm thinking that's wrong. So on to the digital thermometer under the arm. Squirming toddler + arm measurement = false "normal." So with apologies to Monkey, we went for the accurate reading, which was about 100.5 before I finally concluded we were "close enough" and took it out to soothe his complaints. Not a particularly high temp, and within the range that, even if he couldn't be in the classroom, he could be in the "sick bay." Hmmm...
Miscellaneous symptoms included first-time ever complaint that "my tummy hurts," followed by "tummy OK now" after some follow-up questions over the next hour. (And, can I just say, this is one of the great things about him becoming more communicative? I'm still not 100% sure if he had a tummy ache or not, but I look forward to the day when he can REALLY tell me what's bothering him). And one not-so-pleasant diaper change - I'll spare the details, but it wasn't a clear-cut problem either.
So herein lies the double standard: As an already tired Mommy who is supposed to be using day care days to do actual work to bring money into the house, all signs point to sending Monkey to day care. He really seems to just have a cold, not the dreaded flu, and the day care checklist suggests he's OK to go. But as the Mommy of a toddler who wants MY son to stay as healthy as possible, and is really hoping we can avoid the flu this year, I can't help but put myself in the shoes of the other mommies in the class, who would probably prefer that Monkey stay home. So who wins, Tired Mommy or PC Mommy?
And does the answer depend on the fact that this is day care, where parents usually have no choice but to send their kids, but also understand that they're going to be exposed to various germs, and just hope that this will give them loads of antibodies to make them super-healthy kindergartners? What if Monkey were scheduled not to be in day care, but a paid class of some kind - sports, music, what have you? Does the fact that these kids are more likely of the stay-at-home variety mean that they haven't "signed on" to the same risks of catching colds? But what about the fact that we're all paying for those classes? Does that mean we're entitled to try to get our money's worth, as long as the situation isn't more serious? And what about free activities - certainly those seem the easiest case for the "keep your kid away" approach - you don't HAVE to engage in that activity on that day, and no one there invited Typhoon Toddler or is benefiting from his presence...
Bottom line? It's tough being able to see both sides, yet being the one who has to make the decision.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Talking Shop
Well, it's no secret that I've neglected this blog horribly... But, in an effort to try to remedy the situation, I've decided to jump on the NaBloWriMo bandwagon (thanks for the heads-up, Kristen), Yes, it's National Blog Writing Month, and the goal is to blog every day during the month of November. I don't make any promises about my ability to actually pull this off, and I may bail if I feel like I'm totally stretching for things to write about, or if I have to give up precious sleep to get an entry done, but for now, I'm optimistic. I'm also trying to do the same for Monkey's personal blog, so we'll see how that goes.
On the subject of blogging, I was perusing a magazine in a doctor's office about a week ago, and I saw mention of a site that might be of interest to my fellow bloggers: . It was cited as a good way to print off and save your blog entries in book form. I've often wondered whether I should be doing something more to preserve my blog, and if I might be more likely to look back at it years from now in hard form rather than online. Despite all the amazing changes in technology, I still enjoy curling up on the couch with a good book, and I'd like to think that Monkey will some day as well. So, something to look into. Although I'd also be interested in hearing what others are doing to save their deep thoughts - please share!
On the subject of blogging, I was perusing a magazine in a doctor's office about a week ago, and I saw mention of a site that might be of interest to my fellow bloggers: . It was cited as a good way to print off and save your blog entries in book form. I've often wondered whether I should be doing something more to preserve my blog, and if I might be more likely to look back at it years from now in hard form rather than online. Despite all the amazing changes in technology, I still enjoy curling up on the couch with a good book, and I'd like to think that Monkey will some day as well. So, something to look into. Although I'd also be interested in hearing what others are doing to save their deep thoughts - please share!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
I Want My Extra Hour
Dear Daylight Savings Administrator:
I'm a big fan of the concept of "falling back," so you can imagine my disappointment when this morning I was awakened an hour ahead of our long-standing schedule by my 2-year-old son, who apparently did not get the memo on the significance of last night's time change. This, I should note, is despite my best efforts to tire him out through strenuous trick-or-treating and a later-than normal bedtime. It occurred to me that perhaps you need to do a better job of spreading the word to the toddler crowd, perhaps through a series of educational presentations at day care centers across the nation, or cleverly worked into timely episodes of "Sesame Street," "Curious George," or "Sid the Science Kid." Since it is, however, too late to implement such proactive members in time for this year, I would like to know how you plan to go about offering me a raincheck. Might I humbly suggest an all-expenses paid trip to a spa/resort of my choice, complete with all necessary babysitting services back at home? It's really only fair...
Sincerely,
Still Tired in Toddlerville
I'm a big fan of the concept of "falling back," so you can imagine my disappointment when this morning I was awakened an hour ahead of our long-standing schedule by my 2-year-old son, who apparently did not get the memo on the significance of last night's time change. This, I should note, is despite my best efforts to tire him out through strenuous trick-or-treating and a later-than normal bedtime. It occurred to me that perhaps you need to do a better job of spreading the word to the toddler crowd, perhaps through a series of educational presentations at day care centers across the nation, or cleverly worked into timely episodes of "Sesame Street," "Curious George," or "Sid the Science Kid." Since it is, however, too late to implement such proactive members in time for this year, I would like to know how you plan to go about offering me a raincheck. Might I humbly suggest an all-expenses paid trip to a spa/resort of my choice, complete with all necessary babysitting services back at home? It's really only fair...
Sincerely,
Still Tired in Toddlerville
Friday, September 11, 2009
We interrupt this blog...
... for a brief bit of promotion.
No, I'm not selling out to advertisers. For starters, I don't think I have quite the readership they'd be looking for. :-) But I do have a friend with something to share, and I wanted to do what little I can to help give her an audience.
Diane is a breast cancer survivor, and an amazing, creative woman. She has designed a ring as a symbol of many things, including her journey, and it is now available for sale. Perhaps you or someone you know might be inspired by her journey or her vision, and so, without further ado, I present to you the PINKie Promise Ring (TM):
http://www.pinkiepromisering.com/
No, I'm not selling out to advertisers. For starters, I don't think I have quite the readership they'd be looking for. :-) But I do have a friend with something to share, and I wanted to do what little I can to help give her an audience.
Diane is a breast cancer survivor, and an amazing, creative woman. She has designed a ring as a symbol of many things, including her journey, and it is now available for sale. Perhaps you or someone you know might be inspired by her journey or her vision, and so, without further ado, I present to you the PINKie Promise Ring (TM):
http://www.pinkiepromisering.com/
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Acciental Learning
As a follow-up to my last post, I thought I'd share a story of some further evidence that Monkey is in fact learning something, somehow, somewhere...
I have this old wooden ring toss set that I was thinking of throwing away. It's just two intersecting pieces of wood that holds five pegs, with heavy yarn rings. The pegs have gotten kind of mildewy, and the rings are just kind of gnarled and gross ,for lack of a better description. Of course, once I got it out of the box to inspect it, Monkey was all over it, so I wiped it down as best I could and let it stay in the outdoor toy box for a while.
I should mention that the pegs, holes, and rings are different colors. Not something that really caught my attention, but it definitely caught Monkey's - I've discovered that he loves to put it "together," and gets almost agitated if I happen to, say, put all the pegs and rings on the "wrong" spots, which I have an annoying tendency to do, just to mess with him. So I guess we can check color sorting off the list - now I just have to wonder about his obsessive need to keep it in order...
I have this old wooden ring toss set that I was thinking of throwing away. It's just two intersecting pieces of wood that holds five pegs, with heavy yarn rings. The pegs have gotten kind of mildewy, and the rings are just kind of gnarled and gross ,for lack of a better description. Of course, once I got it out of the box to inspect it, Monkey was all over it, so I wiped it down as best I could and let it stay in the outdoor toy box for a while.
I should mention that the pegs, holes, and rings are different colors. Not something that really caught my attention, but it definitely caught Monkey's - I've discovered that he loves to put it "together," and gets almost agitated if I happen to, say, put all the pegs and rings on the "wrong" spots, which I have an annoying tendency to do, just to mess with him. So I guess we can check color sorting off the list - now I just have to wonder about his obsessive need to keep it in order...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tales of the Uninspired (or "Why Paid Professionals Will Be Educating My Child")
I've been chatting with some fellow Mommies lately about "Mommy Guilt" for failure to come up with sufficiently creative and educational activities for our toddlers, and the consensus seems to be that while some people have an amazing skill for this task, others of us, not so much, and, thankfully, our children don't seem to be any worse of as a result. Accordingly, I am hereby abandoning future educational efforts and turning my child's educational and creative future over to those who have a clue as to what they're doing.
I should probably mention that, yes, I have TRIED to be "Fun, Clever Teaching Mom," but the record suggests it is not just not in my genetic code. You be the judge:
1. Flashcards. I bought flashcards for Monkey with colors, shapes, and various objects. Monkey, in turn, has perfected the game of "[insert number of cards here]-Card Pickup."
2 Educational Videos. "The Letter Factory" has been met with "eh" reviews, but at least the entire video has been allowed to play once or twice. Monkey's response to "Meet the Numbers" was somewhat less enthusiastic: "Wiggles! Wiggles! I want Wiggles!! PLAY WIGGLES NOW!!"
3. Crafts. Despite Monkey's willingness to wear a smock for almost all crafting activities, Mommy's "mess" factor isn't quite ready for much yet. Play-Doh is a good way to kill about 15 minutes, until Monkey starts to eat the dough. I know it's non-toxic, but I'm not ready to encourage snacking on it. Crayons are OK. Unfortunately, however, Monkey doesn't like to share, so it's not a good joint activity, because Mommy's desire to use the red crayon is inevitably followed by Monkey's NEED to have "MY crayon." But at least most of the crayon stays on the page. And the table. And very rarely has it ended up on the walls. Or the, um, TV. Yeah, rarely. And those Dot Markers? Monkey likes to take the caps on and off, and put the markers in his mouth. I just don't feel like we have a future artist on our hands...
4. Magnets. Mommy bought a fun bucket of letters and a magnetic board to put the letters on to spell different words. Monkey's version of this game is to (a) dump all of the magnets on the floor, or (b) grab the magnets from Mommy and insist on putting them away. At almost no time are they actually on the board.
5. Cooking. Mommy has tried to make mealtime more interesting by letting Monkey "help" cook. Sometimes this is successful. Other times, not so much. Case in point: While making spaghetti, Mommy thought Monkey might be able to participate by breaking up the spaghetti noodles. Since it wouldn't be safe to have him put them into the boiling water, Mommy got out a big tupperware container, put in a handful of dried noodles, and showed Monkey how to break them in half. What followed was a shower of broken noodle fragments that I am sure we will be finding the remains of for days to come.
I'm sure there are a few others, but I appear to have (perhaps thankfully) repressed my memories of them.
On the plus side, everyday life seems to be teaching Monkey a ton whether I mean for it to or not. For example:
1. After a couple of trips to the zoo, Monkey is very interested in animals right now, and particularly in learning how to make their various sounds. His favorite is the lion, but he also enjoys monkey, cow, rooster, duck, and dog. We're still working on bird, cat, frog, and a few others, but he's a fast learner. He also loves to tell me about "dolphins jumping out of water" after seeing the dolphin show twice now, and also still talks about the "elephant getting a bath." Awesome.
2. Colors. We've pretty much got the basics down: Yellow, red, blue, green, purple, yellow (a/k/a orange), yellow (a/k/a brown), and yellow (a/k/a white). Can you guess what Monkey's favorite color is??
3. Name that Tune. If they ever bring this show back with a special Wiggles edition, Monkey will no doubt be crowned champion. He has an uncanny ability to tell me what song is coming up about two seconds into the song or video. But perhaps this isn't brag-worthy?
I should probably mention that, yes, I have TRIED to be "Fun, Clever Teaching Mom," but the record suggests it is not just not in my genetic code. You be the judge:
1. Flashcards. I bought flashcards for Monkey with colors, shapes, and various objects. Monkey, in turn, has perfected the game of "[insert number of cards here]-Card Pickup."
2 Educational Videos. "The Letter Factory" has been met with "eh" reviews, but at least the entire video has been allowed to play once or twice. Monkey's response to "Meet the Numbers" was somewhat less enthusiastic: "Wiggles! Wiggles! I want Wiggles!! PLAY WIGGLES NOW!!"
3. Crafts. Despite Monkey's willingness to wear a smock for almost all crafting activities, Mommy's "mess" factor isn't quite ready for much yet. Play-Doh is a good way to kill about 15 minutes, until Monkey starts to eat the dough. I know it's non-toxic, but I'm not ready to encourage snacking on it. Crayons are OK. Unfortunately, however, Monkey doesn't like to share, so it's not a good joint activity, because Mommy's desire to use the red crayon is inevitably followed by Monkey's NEED to have "MY crayon." But at least most of the crayon stays on the page. And the table. And very rarely has it ended up on the walls. Or the, um, TV. Yeah, rarely. And those Dot Markers? Monkey likes to take the caps on and off, and put the markers in his mouth. I just don't feel like we have a future artist on our hands...
4. Magnets. Mommy bought a fun bucket of letters and a magnetic board to put the letters on to spell different words. Monkey's version of this game is to (a) dump all of the magnets on the floor, or (b) grab the magnets from Mommy and insist on putting them away. At almost no time are they actually on the board.
5. Cooking. Mommy has tried to make mealtime more interesting by letting Monkey "help" cook. Sometimes this is successful. Other times, not so much. Case in point: While making spaghetti, Mommy thought Monkey might be able to participate by breaking up the spaghetti noodles. Since it wouldn't be safe to have him put them into the boiling water, Mommy got out a big tupperware container, put in a handful of dried noodles, and showed Monkey how to break them in half. What followed was a shower of broken noodle fragments that I am sure we will be finding the remains of for days to come.
I'm sure there are a few others, but I appear to have (perhaps thankfully) repressed my memories of them.
On the plus side, everyday life seems to be teaching Monkey a ton whether I mean for it to or not. For example:
1. After a couple of trips to the zoo, Monkey is very interested in animals right now, and particularly in learning how to make their various sounds. His favorite is the lion, but he also enjoys monkey, cow, rooster, duck, and dog. We're still working on bird, cat, frog, and a few others, but he's a fast learner. He also loves to tell me about "dolphins jumping out of water" after seeing the dolphin show twice now, and also still talks about the "elephant getting a bath." Awesome.
2. Colors. We've pretty much got the basics down: Yellow, red, blue, green, purple, yellow (a/k/a orange), yellow (a/k/a brown), and yellow (a/k/a white). Can you guess what Monkey's favorite color is??
3. Name that Tune. If they ever bring this show back with a special Wiggles edition, Monkey will no doubt be crowned champion. He has an uncanny ability to tell me what song is coming up about two seconds into the song or video. But perhaps this isn't brag-worthy?
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