Top Five Lies Said to My Toddler
Posted by G.I. Jane
I don’t even know how I got myself into these lies; they just happened. I think they appeared somewhere between trying to get through the day and knowing what’s best for my daughter. Not a good excuse, I know.
This past weekend I was consciously aware of the lies, or little fibs as I now like to think of them, that I repeatedly made. Here are my top five:
- Have one more bite and I’ll…fill in the blank with whatever sounds enticing to a kid. My toddler is going through the grazing stage and forgets to eat. Therefore, I’ll nudge her to take a bite every now and then…just so I know she’s getting some food. My “one more bite” is a lie. It’s usually three or four before I’m caught not doing what I promised.
- It’s broken. In an effort to not change the DVD every minute, or giving her my phone, or letting her wear my nice [...]
Pinterest in a box? Genius!
Posted by G.I. Jane
I won’t speak for every parent out there, but I think many moms (especially of young children) have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. I have hundreds of thousands of ideas for everything from a complete ensemble for a getaway to Fiji to how to tile a bathroom to recipes for a five course meal and extravagant table settings for that meal.
However, I spend the majority of my spare time with Pinterest searching, evaluating and repinning. Wherein lies the rub. I don’t have time to do any of my pins! I’m too exhausted after a full day of work, taking care of my two year old (and husband for that matter), cooking, cleaning, tending to the miscellaneous items and searching all 400 of my pins to actually accomplish anything.
I came across this [...]
“The Moment I Knew…” Photo Contest!
Posted by Kiddie Academy
There is a moment in every parent’s life where she witnesses her child displaying the behavior she’s been so desperately trying to teach them, such as an act of kindness or patience or appreciation. All of these also happen to be the values Kiddie Academy teaches through our Character Education program. This “moment” is the foundation behind our official Kiddie Academy Facebook Photo Contest, called “The Moment I Knew…”
The contest, which begins on January 2 and ends on February 28, encourages our [...]
Even More Thankful for Her…
Posted by G.I. JaneI’m not alone with this post. I’m one of many, millions. All saying the same thing. All feeling the same thing.
Thankfulness for our children. Appreciation for their silliness and smiles and sweet voices. Newfound patience for their tantrums and mistakes. Overwhelming, overflowing love for their very existence. And, now a paralazying fear that something could happen to them at any moment.
Bloggers, journalists and just about everyone are writing about “The Newtown Effect…” and how we’re all hugging our children a bit tighter these days. I find myself overpowered by emotion for the Newtown parents and community; unable to stop the tears at work as I think of my own 2-year-old daughter.
I don’t have words of wisdom or expert advice on talking to children about violence or world events, but I do know this event will live in my heart forever and, therefore, so should the gratefulness of all [...]
Kids, Choices and Guilt
Posted by ClairWhen your child is hurt, your heart breaks. When you think your child might be hurt, or he might be faking, your heart is filled with angst-ridden guilt. How do you know what to do? That is the million dollar question. And, after 2 kids, I can say with 100% certainty that regardless of whether you race him to the ER or tell him he is fine and just put ice on it, you made the wrong choice.
Two months ago I made the wrong choice. We raced to the doctor to get an x-ray. He was fine, nothing (and I mean nothing) showed up as even slightly abnormal on the x-ray. So, last weekend when he fell from the monkey bars and said his leg hurt I figured he was fine. 4 hours and many ice packs later, he was still complaining. So, after much deliberation I finally took him [...]
Trick-or- Treating Just Got Educational
Posted by Kiddie AcademyHalloween is getting a bad rap—we’ve assumed it’s all costumes and candy with a splash of historical reference. But we’ve just found a way to sneak a little education into trick-or-treating with counting candy! Who knew, right?!?
Check out this math activity that your child can do post trick-or-treating. And we don’t mean, “one for them, one for mom…”
A Parenting Lesson from All Dogs Go to Heaven
Posted by G.I. JaneI recently introduced the idea of letting my daughter watch a movie on the iPad during the daily 30-minute commute to work and child care (no judgment, please). In a desperate—and cheap—attempt to find something entertaining for her, I downloaded the slightly dated movie All Dogs Go to Heaven.
And before I got motivated to download more movies, I listened to this over and over and over for two weeks straight. However, during my date night with my husband last night I couldn’t help but reference a line from the movie: “you can never go back…”
Any of you that have seen the movie, not many I’m sure, know that Charlie the dog goes to heaven and then finds a way to go back to earth. The pink poodle angel dog says multiple times to Charlie that once he goes back to earth, he can never go back to heaven.
Now my [...]
Filtering for your Children
Posted by Kiddie AcademyIt happens when we least expect it. You’ve got the TV on in the background while you play Legos with your seven year old and a program begins on the 9/11 Memorial, and he asks, “What’s 9/11?” Your response? “Uhhh…well…it stands for September 11th… and umm, a few years before you were born…a long time ago…some evil people wanted to hurt the United States and, umm, kill a lot of innocent people…”
As parents we are genetically programmed to protect our children from harm, and we try to limit their exposure to negative situations. However, the reality is…we can’t always prevent them from uncovering a sensitive topic that will require an explanation. In order to maintain our children’s sense of security, we can filter the way these topics are presented, what is seen or answer questions with an age-appropriate response.
Claire Haas, vice president of education for Kiddie Academy, offers [...]
I’m a Mom and I Know It
Posted by G.I. JaneEvery once in a while I find myself caught in a true parental moment and realize I’m part of the club. Sometimes it’s an unavoidable situation, such as being thrown up on in the middle of the night by a sick child, or maybe it’s a completely impetuous act. But either way, I’m forced to face the music and acknowledge that my priorities, habits and instincts now revolve around a mini-me.
My most recent moment involves an online video and Cookie Monster. There was once a time when I turned to blogs or YouTube strictly for celebrity gossip or a replay of the MTV Music Awards. Now, what catches my attention are the Sesame Street parodies on hit songs, such as Elmo’s “I’m Elmo and I Know It” or more recently, Cookie Monster’s “Share It Maybe”.
I think I can safely attribute my fascination with these videos to my recent [...]
The Playground is Scary
Posted by G.I. Jane
My husband and I took our daughter to a new recycled tire playground this past weekend and it was definitely a little overwhelming…for us, not her.I’ve been anxiously waiting a year and a half to be able to take her to playgrounds and let her frolic around, though most of her frolicking was done with me in hand since she’s still a little young for much of the equipment. I expected that; I was okay with it. What I didn’t expect was the awkward interaction between the playground parents.
I was taken aback by the lack of playground etiquette. I’m kind of new to this scene, but aren’t parents supposed reiterating manners on the playground? Like “watch out for the baby” or “wait in line for the swing” or “don’t go up [...]
