Rectangle Lunch

For those lucky enough to know me in real life...(haha j/k) you know that I am now on bed rest. The first time I have ever had issues with a pregnancy in my life and I am finding it VERY difficult to be the best mom I can be...

but my son (my so helpful and smart son), insisted on making lunch for his sissies. 

So, here is what he came up with...

Cheese Sticks (string cheese) Pretzel Sticks and Ants on a log...he did pretty a pretty good job too...all 5 food groups are on the plate! 

The kids LOOOOOOVED their non-sandwich lunch.  Just something different.

Operation Binky Removal

I have had several questions about the bink, the paci, the plug...whatever you call it. :)

When to get rid of it?

My kids are 15 months apart. I try to get rid of it before then. 

I have gone as late as 18 months, but never after that.

How did you get rid of it?

My kids after 1yr only got it at night. So when they woke up it went in a basket.

The day I decided to get rid of it I cut ALL the tips off and put them back in the basket.

When it was time to get the binky for bed my daughters (b/c my son never had one) would go to the basket and discover they were broken! I made THEM throw them out.

I also strategically hid some in the usual spots broken too, so if they were found...in the trash they went.

Sure the girls cried, but I would just remind them that they were broken and that they were in the trash.

It took maybe 2 days of whimpering and then they were gone!

I didn't want my kids to have them after 18 months because I felt like once they got to go to the nursery at church it was time to let it go. They were big kids now. :)

Do you know of other things that have worked?

I know of friends who have just thrown them out and told their kids that they are lost.

I know of people who have mailed their binky's to a new baby in the family.

Things to remember:

Stay strong!  If you decide its time...It's time. Don't give in!

The best time to do it is not during a move, or a big event like a new baby or something like that.

I have a friend who did it the week the new baby came and her toddler resented the new baby and would steal the babies pacifier. I would have done it before, or a while after and convinced the toddler that they were a big kid and didn't need the paci anymore.

As always feel free to email me with any questions and I will answer them as soon as I can! :)

Scheduling Toddlers/Toddler Tips/Potty Training

Poop.

sorry I couldn't resist!

Lets talk about poop shall we?

I have talked about it here, more in depth HERE but let's talk about other issues with the big B-M.

I have a BUNCH of new followers! 239 is AWESOME!  Since then I have received several emails about doing the dirty business.

If your child is great at #1 on the toilet but still having issues with #2 here are a few suggestions:

Talk to your kid about the situation, address your concerns or the problem you have. 

Is the problem beyond their control? Constipated, Diarrhea? or is it "That they don't want to?"

Talk to your little cutie:

"Jenny you do such a great job going pee in the toilet, I bet you can do just as well going poop."

"Tommy, I am so proud of you for going all day in the potty but you know poop goes in the toilet too!"

"Sam, where does pee go? Where does poop go?" 

"Sarah, we are all done with diapers which means you need to use the toilet for pees and poos"

If you talk to them like big kids, they might surprise you and actually understand you better. As long as you aren't yelling or frustrated when these talks are going on, you should have success.

Come up with a poop plan.  Do a potty chart just for poop.  

Another thing that has worked for me with kids I have trained in the past is explaining what poop is. Explaining that it is the stuff our bodies don't need anymore, so we have to poop it out to make room for the new waste.

This is one of the harder things with potty training, because when they have been in a diaper 20+ months pooping isn't even thought about. It just naturally comes out and it's done. We are asking kids to think about it, recognize the signs and then take the appropriate action.  It becomes very hard to rewire that part of the thought process for some.

As always your input is welcome, friendly responses or stories please. 

I am here ready to answer any more questions you may have, and thanks again for the support!

Pumpkin Flash Cards

Pumpkin Theme Activities for Kids.

Cut up paper into card shapes.

Write the number at the bottom and draw the appropriate number of stems.

Then let the kids thumbprint/finger print the corresponding amount of "pumpkins"

Once dry, laminate and use for anything!

We are going to use them for church...on the way, for quiet activities and for counting.

Simple easy and made by your toddler!

Scheduling Toddlers/Toddler Tips/Potty Training

One more post in this series. I know you are all so thrilled. :)

I have had over 10,000 hit on my potty training tips!  That is an all time record! :)  I love to potty train, and help others do it.  

I know there are stories out there on "how I tricked my son to potty train" or "bribing my kid to potty in 2 days" but lets face it, those stories could only work if the kid was older than 3 and if they had been introduced to toilet training before.  Those stories couldn't have worked with a barely 2 year old who has never sat on the toilet in their life. They also don't guarantee longevity in keeping them trained because  -  they weren't trained to go.  Okay off soap box.

I have had about 15 emails and comments on how to deal with potty training regression. So I am going to address that right now.

Regression in Potty Training:

Remember that Potty Training for some kids takes time. You should never rush this process.

Every kid is so different that one technique might not work for another, as I have found in my 3 older kids.  The ultimate goal of potty training is independence. You want them to go when you remind them, and completely on their own.

Once they are potty trained...some kids regress. Why does this happen?

Stress of moving, new baby, new job, really there is a myriad of things that can trigger regression. Its not that the child "forgets" its that the child can now control the one thing that had your full attention.  

I had an email from a mother who had a kindergartner and so she went back to work and the kindergartner regressed.  My advice to her was that the Kindergartner needed more attention. So instead of punishing her or having a negative reaction to the wetting the child would get rewarded for staying dry at school, then another one for staying dry at day care etc.  We also adjusted her home time schedule to include EXTRA mommy time.  

Sometimes kids subconsciously use accidents as their trigger to get what they want, I am not going to lie though in my experiences when potty training other peoples kids - they do it deliberately also.

If you suspect this is happening in your home - ignore it and make them take care of it themselves.   "Fine, you need to take care of it. Put your wet clothes in the hamper and get clean ones."  This will show them that they aren't gaining anything by having an accident.  If they are doing it deliberately - still give them extra attention WITHOUT mentioning accidents. Its hard, but it works.

Also - lay out their responsibility as a potty trained member in the house. My kids in my house get a little extra responsibility or chore because they are potty trained.  Like they have reached this right of passage...and get to be semi-grownup now. If they choose to neglect their responsibility there are consequences.  

One of my daughters kept getting distracted and not getting to the potty in time and would "pittle" you know "pee a little" in her undies.  I told her that she couldn't go to the store with me that day because I was worried she wouldn't make it to the bathroom at the store.  She then said she would and proved it to me and has done so ever since.

The key to stopping the regression in a child that was already fully toilet trained is to avoid negative reactions, learn why this has started, discuss responsibility and consequences, decide whether they were ready in the first place...do they need to go back to diapers?, is it something else like a UTI or something else that they can't control?, and to keep your cool.

Punishing is not recommended for potty training. This is supposed to be a "positive" experience. If at anytime the child feels discouraged it will be 10x harder to get results.

If I can help more please let me know!  Leave a comment or email me! :)

Pumpkin Books

Here are the books we are reading right now for this unit....

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever  by: Steven Kroll

It's Pumpkin Time    by:Zoe Hall

The Littlest Pumpkin    by: R.A. Herman

The Three Friends and the Pumpkins   by: Tomie dePaola (8 pages they are going to memorize)

From Seed to Pumpkin   by: Wendy Pfeffer
(my favorite)

We are also going to listen to Pumpkin Soup  by: Helen Cooper

And since I am catering to girls I couldn't resist Pinkalicious and the pink pumpkin    by: Victoria Kann

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

Toddler Pumpkin Theme Ideas

Print this Life Cycle Chart

We cut this out then glued it in the right order.  Then we matched up the left over cards to our diagram.

The girls suddenly figured it all out, since we grew pumpkins in our yard this year and they remembered seeing each step.

Umm Okay?

I forgot to let you all know I am having #5 in 2012.

The kids are excited as can be.

#1- 5years, #2 - almost 4years, #3 - 2.7years, #4 - 7months

That is what I have been up to. There have been SEVERAL complications with this little baby inside but we are hopeful that all the potential issues and problems are in the past.

Thanks for the kind words. 

Pumpkin Ideas

So far -
HERE is what we have done in the past.

The next 2 weeks will be devoted to pumpkins. :)

Thanks for the emails and comments!  We are expecting #5 and have had a bumpy road along the way. If you are the praying kind please keep our wee one and me in your prayers, at this point - anything will help. :)

See ya tomorrow!