Wordless Wednesday...

App of the Week: Project NOAH

We did a lot of berry picking this summer.  When Sam, "I hungy NOW", figured out edible things grew on trees and bushes she was stunned!  She ate so many her poop was lovely purplish, greenish technicolor for most of July.  That was fun.  

During our two weeks at summer camp, our cabin was surrounded by wild blueberry bushes and she got very used to picking her own snacks.  She was never far from my sight, but I worried quite a bit.  I knew that while she knew what was good to eat, she didn't yet have the capacity to distinguish what was not.  One evening she was quite occupied around the corner of the cabin, and we were quite occupied with other things.  After a few minutes I went to check on her and saw to my dismay that she was happily munching on blueberries.  And not blueberries.

Well...shit.

We paid the camp nurses a visit, watched her closely, and finally gave poison control a call.  Luckily, according to poison control, a baby pre-molars won't chew berry seeds and that is where the toxins are.  So whatever it was...she'd be fine.

Phew!

But I still didn't know what this plant was, and while reassured that Poison Control said it was fine, still really wondered if my kiddo had ingested toxins or not.  So we tried to figure out what it was.  We searched the internet and asked some of the camp staff that was known to know their plants.  To no avail.

Enter my new favorite app...Project Noah.

 

Project Noah is a citizen scientist app, working to build a huge inventory of cataloged nature photos that others can search through.  Also, you can upload a photo of something you would like identified and someone else out there will tell you what it is.  I took a picture of my mystery plant...and a few days later had my answer.  "Canada May Flower".  And no, not poisonous.

In addition to uploading your own wildlife spottings, you can undertake "Missions".  This fall when I am doing my unit on NH forests, I think we might join the "Project Red" mission and photograph all the red we find in the forest around us.

Wordless Wednesday...

How to Potty Train Your Child in Less Than a Week Without Really Trying

Potty Training.  We mama's all must suffer through it.  I seem to have stumbled upon a rather easy method for potty training, and not being one to keep such important info to myself...here you go.  A fool-proof, stress-free, easy way to potty train your child in less than a week.  You hardly need to do thing!

Step 1:  Have a baby.  I am partial to girls as I have two of them, but I suppose a boy would be fine.

Step 2:  Read all literature regarding potty-training before your child learns to roll over.  Maybe even before giving birth.  It is always important to be ready when the time comes.

Step 3: Disregard anything you find on the diaper-less baby..."Elimination Communication".  Ewww.  There is a time and a place for diapers.

Step 4: At the very early end of when the "experts" (The What to Expect series) say, you should begin.  Around 18 months...although most hold off until at least 2.  Given that your baby is smarter than most, as mine was, start right away.

Step 5: Put a potty in every room.  Show your child how great the potty is.  Sing and dance around the potty!  Everything you do will create a positive association with the potty!

Step 6: Buy Pull-Ups.  They are twice as expensive as diapers but it doesn't really matter since your child is far above average and will be wearing them for less than a week.

Step 7: Don't worry when your child shows no interest in the potty or even resists all of this positive stuff you are doing.  All perfectly normal.  Try this for several weeks.  When it doesn't work, give up for a few months.  Maybe your kid isn't that far ahead on the learning curve.  Try again when your child turns 2. 

Step 8: Now is the time!  You are ready, they are ready!  Except by now your child is no longer a sweet, compliant baby.  Your child has turned into a strong willed, defiant child.  Try rewarding with M&Ms.  Try a sticker chart.  Try reverse psychology...then give up for a few more months. 

Step 9: At 2 and a half, start freaking out a little bit since they have to be potty trained to attend that top pre-school you have registered for and it begins in a few months.

Step 10: Get a book book that guarantees weekend potty training success and read it cover to cover.  Spend a weekend in hell doing everything the book says.  Give up again.  The pre-school can't be serious!

Step 11: Around age 3 try again.  Your child now understands the concept of actions having consequences.  Create a sticker chart or download a cool app.  At this point, your child should respond pretty quickly and be completely potty trained in a few months.  Congratulations!

What's that?  I promised in less than a week?  And without really trying?  Oh right!

Step 12: Have a second baby.  Preferably of the same sex.

Step 13: Completely forget about everything you tried the first time around since it was all silly and didn't work anyway.

Step 14: Be lucky and have your younger completely adore the older.  

Step 15: Always have the older leave the bathroom door open! Bribe them if you must. This is a very, very important step!

Step 16: At some point near the age of 2 your child will start trying to sit on the potty whenever their older sibling does.  At that point use your toddler-ese and come up with a short phrase to use when it is time to pee.  In our house it is "Sammy potty now!"

Step 17: Whenever your older child uses the potty, yell your equivalent of "Sammy potty now" and stick your younger kid on the potty as soon as the big kid is done.

Step 18:  When the little one sits, pees, poops, whatever...have the big kid cheer and shout.  You can join in too if you want.  In less than a week you can stick your kid in underwear.  

Congratulations!  You potty trained your kid in less than a week and hardly had to do a thing!

Wordless Wednesday...

Wordless Wednesday...

Relaxing is for Grandmothers!

Last summer it was difficult for me to relax outside because I had a 9 month old who put everything (everything!) in her mouth.  You name it, she ate it.  Rocks, bugs, sand, trash, ewwww!  I would put her down, she would start grazing.  We went camping, she lunched on dirt.  We tried the beach, she ate the sandcastle.  Needless to say, my "relaxing" days were spent carrying around a baby against her will.  Wow...I'm getting stressed out by the memories!

 We have largely gotten past the oral stage by now, so I was planning on catching up on some of my relaxing this summer.  My vision?  Long days spent at the lake sitting back in my beach chair.  Zoe adept enough in the water that she can swim and play on her own, Sam happily playing in the sand near me, occasionally splashing her toes in the water then quickly running back to the safety of the sand.  Ahhh...delusional me.

The reality?  It took Sam about 2 days at the beach to get comfortable in the water.  Really comfortable.  Too comfortable.  And wanting to do everything (everything!) that her swimming big sister is doing.  She runs in up to her neck, she jumps, she dives.  She climbs on top of floats and balances.  She does it all without a look back.  Or a thought about safety.  So my beach chair once again is the only one relaxing.  I'm spending my summer knee deep in water teaching the "float-back".

Although I may look at it longingly, I know that my chair isn't too lonely.  And I know that these are memories I will keep with me forever, unlike the plot of my latest supermarket best-seller.  I won't remember that next week.  I have a few more years to go before the beach chair and I bond again.  For now, I'll dive right in, get wet, get dirty, have fun.  Relaxing will just have to wait!

Important Words

At 18 months, Sam is developing a huge vocabulary.  I often find myself listening to her words, the words that have stuck the words that she has internalized and is now speaking, and thinking about what insight this gives into what is important in the life of a baby.

She started with the usual.  Mama.  Abi our dog came next, although then and now she seems to have a curious lack of consonants and it comes out more like Aaaaaeee.

Daddy came in due time, much to his delight.  I expected some version of Zoe's name to come early, but it was a tricky one for her, emerging much more recently.  She still doesn't have the /Z/, it's more like "Hoey"...but it's getting there.

Names are to be expected, it is the other words I find so interesting.

Very early on, "Stuck".  "Hungry".  The two things she is most often.

Food words, "Nana." (banana). "Appo" (apple).  Confirmation to me that I feed her well.  Now of course she has added "Cacu" (cracker), "Hot dog" and the ever popular "Cookie".  Well, I can't be super healthy mom all the time, can I?

I especially liked how "Peese" (please) and "Tank Tu" (thank you) made a very early appearance.  I know that good polite language is being modeled consistently in the house, not just by her mom and dad but sister as well.

Her first phrase, as I blogged about here, was "Daddy home."  But I knew her brain was really starting to understand the ways of the world when a month or two later we arrived home and she looked around..."Daddy home," she stated.  "No", I replied.  "Daddy's not home yet."  She looked at me with empathy (or maybe hunger)  "Ah...fishing," she said.

Now her language is coming so fast I can hardly keep up.  New words not every week or day, but every hour.  Maybe faster.  She overgeneralized to create meaning when she doesn't have the words.  "Cow" she says when she sees a big four legged creature, be it a horse or moose or a cow.  I gave her a sugar snap pea today.  "Banana!" she said in delight.  "Sugar snap pea," I told her.  "Apple?"  she replied.  She understands the categories.  She's got it sorted out.

Boy oh boy, where is my baby going????

A Frank and Honest Discussion About Story Land

 ex·pert [n., v. ek-spurt; adj. ek-spurt, ik-spurt]

–noun

1.  a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority:

Zoe,who is four, is an expert on many things.  Dinosaurs, The Three Pigs, travel to New York, sloths, how to care for box turtles, the blue morpho butterfly, painting, and the magical properties of unicorns, just to name a few.  She can tell you everything there is to know about these things, and will if she is in the mood.  Given that this is her third continuous summer as a Story Land season pass holder, I am pretty sure that she also qualifies as a Story Land expert.  I decided to sit down with her for an in depth interview about the best and worst of Story Land...from a four year old point of view.

For those of you who don't know, Story Land is an fantastic Amusement Park located in Glen, NH, targeted at children ages 2-12.  For a young child, Story Land is pure magic.

So here it is...the interview.

Me- What is the best part of Story Land?
Z- The Polar Coaster.
Me- Why?
Z- Because it's really fast, just like me!

Me- What's another fun one?
Z- The Whirling Whales.
Me- Why?
Z- It whirls and whirls and whirls a lot of times!

There are rides for all ages and stages.  When I take both kids, both Zoe and Sam (18 months) we have a blast visiting Butterfly Island, visiting Cinderella, riding the carousel, driving the tractors and watching Farm Follies.  When we go as a family, an adult for each child, Sam and I hang out in the sprayground while Zoe and her Dad ride the Polar Coaster and the Bamboo Chutes over and over and over.

Me-What don't you like?
Z- The Turtles, they're too fast.  They make me scared.

I know plenty of kids that love the Turtles, but my speed loving daughter doesn't.  I guess I put this in as a reminder that our kids are quirky, and unique.  I know that whenever I take my kids to a park, especially when I have paid for a day, I have an image in my head of how that day is going to go.  As clear as my image is, if I push my kids too hard, or push them in a direction that belongs to me rather than them, I risk the day ending in tears.  A happy day at Story Land is a child led day.  If that means you skipped the Turtles, or spent 45 minutes in the sandbox, or went on the Whirling Whales so many times your head is still spinning, so be it.  Story Land is geared toward kids.  Let them lead the way and your day will be one for the scrapbook!

Me-What should you bring to eat?
Z-Cookies

Hmmmmmm....

Me-What should you bring to drink?
Z-Juice, Lemonade, Milk, Water

Well, she's right about this one.  Story Land is big for your little one.  It takes a lot of energy to make it through the day.  A fed and hydrated child makes for a happy mom or dad.  Story Land has great cubbies for your cooler, but also has very reasonable rates for food and drinks.  There's also the big lion water fountain which my child, at least, would choose over almost any other drink!

Me-Who do you think would like to go to Story Land?
Z-Me, Sam, Daddy, and You

Right on Zoe.  Great for families, great for friends, great for everyone!  Have a great time...we'll probably see you there!

ies

Phenomenal Woman

Five more hours and I am on vacation...sort of.

I took my kiddos (school kiddos, not my own personal ones) on a second to last day Field Trip to beautiful Echo Lake with a side trip to one of my favorite places on the planet, The White Mountain Cupcakery.  As I wrangled the children into a semi-organized group, a parent quietly remarked "Wow, your job is hard."


"Not really," I replied.


But when I add it all together, she's right.  Being a teacher is hard.  Being a mom is hard.  Doing both at the same time is really hard.  Wonderful, amazing, inspiring.  But no doubt about it...hard!


So here is a poem for me today.  And for all of you who Mom out there.  And work.  And do both.  Although we may not feel it very often, what we do is phenomenal.  We are phenomenal.  And we need to remind ourselves of that every once in a while.


I am half on vacation after five more hours of work.  I won't be all the way on vacation for at least seventeen more years, but I wouldn't change it for the world!

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

 

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me. 

 

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me. 

 

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me. 

from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.