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Posts Tagged ‘parenting’

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Now that winter is beating a slow but definite retreat, we’re dropping by our favorite playground whenever it makes sense. It’s been really fun to see the leap in physical skills the Boo has taken since the fall, and he enjoys eating snacks at the little picnic table almost as much as he digs the ability to climb and slide on his own.

Playgrounds are surprisingly intimate spaces given that they’re open-air venues. I’ve seen children cradled after scary and/or bloody falls, witnessed dead-serious negotiations over balls and buckets and shovels, and smiled at babies nursing as their siblings run amok.

The other day as I was spotting my kid’s ascent on a metal ladder (!) I heard a snatch of Japanese, which I used to speak fairly well. I turned my head just in time to see a mom next to her daughter at the bottom of a slide. The girl was 4 or 5 (I’m terrible at gauging ages) and was in a lovely frilly dress and hair bow. Her eyes were closed, seemingly because of the bright spring sun. The mom placed her daughter’s hand on the slide and said, “1, 2, 3.” The rest of what she said was beyond my capabilities, but the meaning was clear to me once the girl flickered her milky eyes and smiled.

This is a slide, this is what you do on a slide. Someday soon when you’re ready, we’ll get you up there.

I hope I get to be there when that little girl is ready.

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It started with this:

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J is for jellybean, I would say. Then I realized the poor kid had no idea what a jellybean was. Also, Easter is coming, and I feel that an important part of my parental duty is to prepare him thoroughly for the garden of delights he’ll find in his basket. In other words, get him hyped up.

I tried to explain them in terms he’d understand: “They’re sweet, like chocolate.” The Boo was unimpressed and asked for chocolate. “The next time we go to the store, we’ll get some jelly beans.” He remained placid. To him, going to the store means a ride in a cart and maybe some stickers. None of it is nearly as exciting as running in a circle (our new favorite game now that the big baby gate is down).

As promised, I procured a small packet of Jelly Bellies during our next grocery trip. At home, I waited for the Afternoon Crabs to come skittering in with their whining and drama and penchant for pinching. Then I pulled out the packet with a flourish, tore it open, and let the Boo select a bean.

He looked at it with suspicion, but ate it and accepted another. This one, though, was greeted with a squinty face and his trademark, “Don’ like it!” He was looking for somewhere to spit it out, so I did the classic Mom thing and offered my hand. I gazed at the mangled pale pink confection in my palm and chuckled, wondering how this small thing had offended my child.

I sat down to eat the rest of the packet. I’m not crazy about jelly beans but I do enjoy the occasional Jelly Belly and after all, someone had to eat them. I may have emitted a small sigh as I poured a few onto the counter (I like to figure out what the flavors are before they go in my mouth. Also, they’re pretty.)

The Boo came over, asking/demanding to be picked up. Once in my lap, he asked for the packet. Then the real fun began, because he wanted to feed them to me. Quickly.

And so that’s what we did for the next 20 minutes. He’d pick up a bean from the counter and try to shove it in my mouth. I’d make a ridiculous face and say, “still eating!” He’d open his mouth wide, tongue out — his way of saying, “show me!” I’d happily oblige and the giggling would ensue. Inevitably, beans were dropped and went spinning across the hardwood, so I’d put him down, he’d collect them, squealing the whole time, and hop back up with me. Then he’d feed me another one, wiggling with delight the whole time.

Best $1.69 I ever spent.

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There are so many long stretches of parenting a small child that are absolutely mind-numbing in their repetitiveness that when you occasionally come up with a genius childrearing idea on the fly, it’s both a shock and cause for celebration.

I had one of those moments a few months ago when I asked the Boo to take me upstairs instead of telling him we had to go up. I have no idea why I did it, but he appeal to his budding independence was instant and dramatic — he seized my finger and practically dragged me up behind him. A couple of weeks ago, though, I came up with an even better trick, though once again I couldn’t tell you where the idea came from.

The Boo was being particularly disinclined to be happy about delaying his desires, which is to say, it was close to nap time on yet another butt-cold day in February and I needed to do a few more things before I could grant his wish to help him play at the sink. I pulled out my phone and opened the clock app.

“I tell you what. I’ll set the timer. When you hear the bells, it’s time for water play.”

He looked a little unsure about this timer thing, but he was pleased that I let him push the start button. Then I made a huge deal about the bells ringing and let him push the cancel button. Then I set it again to signal the end of water play, because he will seriously spend as much time as we let him “washing” dishes.

So now, instead of whining at me (my least favorite thing about my kid) when he needs to wait or stop doing something he likes, he submits to the will of the phone. Because, see, the command is coming from the phone — the provider of videos and games and general fun — not from me. And he doesn’t have it in him to whine at the phone.

Yet.

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You are two years old.

You get a monthly kids’ magazine called High Five and you know it’s for you as soon as it show up. You love the stories and songs in it, but the big surprise for us is that you can find about half the items in the hidden pictures puzzle:

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You enjoy spinning to make yourself dizzy, washing things in the sink, and practicing your jumping skills.

You want to sing your water bottle to sleep when we put it in the fridge because Mama said it was going for a nap once when we laid it on its side. You now like to do this with certain toys, and last night you did it with a Cheerio that was apparently worn out from bring on your high chair tray.

You get rides in the laundry basket after Mama puts the clean clothes away.

You are learning how to somersault.

You have begun to protest diaper changes by trying to sit up through them. Often you can be persuaded to calm down with a song or the promise of playing with a favored object like a nail clipper (really), but on the night of your birthday you bumped your head, so sometimes Mama reminds you of that when you’re doing your Baby Abs of Steel routine.

You enjoy washing dishes so much that you sometimes have a meltdown if you can’t wash them when you want to. You also like scrubbing the shower floor, and often enlist the help of your bedtime buddy.

You have begun to state clothing preferences, usually by asking to wear your robot shirt.

You can get up on the piano bench and play by yourself.

You refer to yourself as “you,” often while pointing your chest for emphasis.

You refer to Mama as “I.”

You swiftly declare yourself done with your meal if told you can have something you want after you finish eating.

You have begun to deploy the phrase, “I don’t like it.”

You finally got to go out in a fresh snowfall, but refused to touch the snow. Mama suspects this was because you got a face full of it the day before when we walked to a neighbor’s house while it was falling. You stomped around in it a bit, but were disappointed that we couldn’t make a snowman from it because it was so dry.

You recently met a newborn baby, whom you studiously ignored except to ask Mama to put him down and to say goodbye to him.

You speak in full sentences about 20 percent of the time.

You began eating pasta a few weeks ago, but once again refused to touch or taste your birthday cake.

You know how to get down from the big bed safely.

You delight in playing hide and seek with Mama, especially when you’re in your looniest pre-bedtime state and thus most likely to run into walls and furniture while scurrying from room to room. But she has a hard time resisting your requests because of the pure joy you radiate when you find her and throw yourself against her, squealing.

You enjoy sitting in a big boy chair when we have snacks at the mall.

You made your first attempt to sing an actual song on your birthday. It was “Happy Birthday,” and you took artistic license with the lyric, proudly warbling, “happ burfday for you.”

You are two years old, and it’s a struggle to refrain from calling you “baby.”

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A week ago I left the Boo in my husband’s care for the day. I had never done this before, as there had never been a need. But an uncle had died and there was a memorial in Detroit and we take our funerals seriously in my family, and so off I flew.

I was worried about how the baby would react to being away from me — I’d only ever been away from him for a few hours at a stretch. The day dawned and he slept late, so I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him — and he’d be asleep by the time I got back.

Naturally, he had a great time with Daddy. So great, in fact, that he now asks for him as soon as he wakes up in the morning. And when he wakes up from his nap. And it’ s only been a few weeks since he started calling out “Amma” when he wakes up.

The first few times, I thought it was sweet. Then it began to rankle. Nearly two years of constant care brought down by one day — one DAY! — of non-stop fun. Suddenly I was the proverbial chopped liver in my kid’s life.

But on the plus side, perhaps this means he’ll have an easy transition to school.

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Every time I read an article on kids and technology, or raising kids in the digital age, or kids and screen time, I come away with the same impression: We’re doing it wrong. So here’s a point-by-point rebuttal to the experts, just for fun.

Rule: Don’t leave the kid alone with an iPad.
Reality: Sometimes I need a shower when I’m the only adult around, and iPad plus pack-and-play keeps my kid safe and happy for the 10 minutes I need to get clean. Also, we frequently play with him when he’s playing with it, and mix in educational apps whenever possible.

Rule: Too much screen time will result in a kid with delays elsewhere.
Reality: My 23-month-old is speaking in sentences, loves counting, knows his colors, and is learning his letters. He’s excited by and interested in all of that, and none of it was delivered by a device.

Rule: Don’t let the kid eat in front of a screen.
Reality: When a kid is sick, all bets are off.

Rule: Giving a kid access to devices will make them beg for screen time.
Reality: Have you ever met a toddler who didn’t beg for something? It’s called pushing limits, and it’s his job right now. Also, he begs for books and songs and the opportunity to flick a light switch.

Rule: Early iPad use will give your kid ADD.
Reality: The Boo will spend as much time, if not more, playing in the kitchen cabinets, or packing and unpacking things, or demanding that I read him book after book. He’ll also walk away from the iPad when he’s bored with it.

Rule: Kids who use technology early lack empathy.
Reality: My kid offers to kiss our boo-boos and recently apologized to a kid he bumped with a piece of gym equipment.

All that said, we don’t give the Boo unlimited screen time, and he doesn’t watch TV (just short videos while we brush his teeth). We also don’t give him the iPad if he’s begging or whining for it. In short, our technology policy for him is the same as the one for us: Don’t be an idiot.

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Recently I’ve been napping more because the kiddo has been sick, and even though I’ve been exhausted I haven’t always been able to fall asleep because my brain can’t stop fixating on weird things. The other day, it was on a roll thinking of phrases that sound funny when you replace one word with “baby” or “babies.”

For example:

– A good baby is hard to find.

– When baby talks, people listen.

– Let sleeping babies lie.

– Nobody expects the third baby.

– Babies heal all wounds.

– You have to break a few eggs to make a baby.

– Who’s afraid of the big bad baby?

– ‘Cause every girl’s crazy about a smart dressed baby.

– Babies never strike twice.

This game is even funnier if you play it with the word “poop”: Nobody expects the third poop. You deserve a poop today. Poop, there it is!

And yes, I do know I need to get out more.

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Parenting takes you to some weird places, most of which you had no idea existed. It’s all part of the fun when you’re aiming to make it through a day with a toddler with a minimum of trauma and a maximum of amusement.

For example: I am a college-educated woman living a happy middle-class life. I am (generally speaking) mentally stable. I do not believe in fairies. Why, then, did I start talking to my son’s feet a week ago?

I don’t recall a considered decision-making process, but it probably had something to do with a fussy kid on a changing table, because that’s where it always happens. See, the feet get restless, so they kick, and that kind of gets in the way of things like wiping and diaper cream and putting on pants. But if you talk to the feet and tell them, individually, what’s coming, they listen and chill out and let you do what you need to do.

The interesting thing is that the feet have different personalities. Right Foot is more outgoing and confident, quick to answer that yes, he’s ready for the sock. Left Foot (a/k/a Friend of Right Foot) is so shy as to be inaudible. You must press your ear to his big toe in order to hear his response.

Like I said, no mental illness that I’m aware of. But I’m not the only one who’s into it — the Boo will thoughtfully speak up for the recalcitrant foot if he (the foot) is feeling particularly shy. He will also request that I speak to the feet, chirping a plaintive “please” while holding his feet aloft over his bare bottom. And that, my friends, is about as high as you can get on both the Humor and Cuteness scales.

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1. A 19-month-old can throw a snack cup — the kind with a twist-to-lock lid — such that it pops open when it hits the floor.

2. Cheerios travel impressively far on highly polished surfaces such as the floor of our local Target.

3. Saying there’s been a Cheerio disaster gets a smile from a worker bee.

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When Baboo was about seven months old, or maybe a little older, I started teaching him baby sign language. Just the classics, really: more, all done, please, thank you. For a while, he used each new sign to mean what the previous one meant, plus the meaning for the new one. So when he signed “please” it actually meant “more” and “please,” and sometimes “I want it.”

Now that he’s 18 months, he has a good range of words to convey his desires and chat about his world. All the books and websites say this is when kids experience a “language explosion.” In Baboo’s case, this has mostly meant pointing out every trash can and excitedly proclaiming “dash!” He also now chants, “go, go, go” every time we pass the gate to the basement, which is our route to going to the store/playground/for a walk.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been focusing on getting him to say “yes” in response to direct questions instead of signing “more” or “please.” I knew he could handle “yes” because three or four weeks ago, he began saying “house” and “ice” clearly (whereas before it was just “ow” and “eye”). The “yes” project went well enough that I was satisfied. My baby was On Target with this Major Developmental Milestone.

But then last week, he was in his high chair and he started doing the sign for “more” perfectly. He’d never done this, so it took me a minute to get what he was saying. I seriously thought he might just be playing with his fingers. So I asked him, just to be sure: “You want more?”

Again, the perfectly executed “more,” plus the word itself, reasonably clearly. Not the “muh” of the past few months. “Mow.”

I think he got tired of me sitting there with my mouth open, because then he signed, and said, “more, please.”

Both signs, perfectly, accompanied by words that were actually recognizable. He’s never done that. Hasn’t done it since. But apparently he put all the pieces together to do it last week, and decided to show Mama what he could do.

Astonishing, what goes on in that little head.

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