Speaking Eyeball to Eyeball

So often we talk to each other from across the room. We yell for the kids to pick up their toys, we expect them to hear us, and get frustrated when they don't. Starting today, try to speak every word while looking at each other "eye to eye." Get on your knee's if you talking to your tot, or stand on a stool if someone is taller. Make a game out of it. Expect awesome results; everyone you speak too just might hear and respond!

Cali (15months) and I "eye to eye" level.

Are you using your Bumbo seat correctly?

Cali 6 months seated correctly in her Bumbo.

Hazard: If the seat is placed on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface, young children can arch their backs, flip out of the Bumbo seat, and fall onto the floor, posing a risk of serious head injuries.

Please note you should NEVER place the Bumbo seat  on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface, this seat is for the floor only!

Recall of Bumbo Baby Seats

Seperate Time

Only when we are alone and silent do we hear our own voice. Children who value their own thoughts learn to understand their feelings. In a world where everything seems fast and furious, the child who is comfortable within him/herself will find peace, and enjoy his/her own mind.

"Being solitary is being alone well."

--Alice Koller

Teaching Everyday Skills

Everyday household skills include doing laundry, shopping, paying bills, and cleaning are important for a child to learn. They teach a child to be independent. When a child leaves your home with these skills, he/she will feel more self-confidence and you will worry less.

-- Next time you go to the grocery store, take your child with you. (If its easier to only take one child make sure you make it known everyone will get a turn to the grocery store.) Walk around the store together showing them how to find the price, how to pick a good fruit, where to find the ingredients listed on an item, etc. If you use coupons, like we do, tell your child why they are so important when checking out.

--Get the kids involved in sorting laundry into light, dark, and white piles. Show them how to work the washer and dryer and encourage them to always help you start their laundry.

--Have your child be a kitchen helper when making a dinner that needs ingredients to me mixed. As a rule in my house when the cooking starts since I have 2 little ones, everyone needs to scoot out of the kitchen. Our kitchen is gated off 24/7, but I do tell Cali in to help me prepare dinner :)

Resourcefulness

Life for a child is all about learning how to weather the little storms each day brings. Being resourceful means taking on challenges, taking the time to think through those challenges, and then using available resources to solve them. Developing resourcefulness gives a child life skills for weathering their storms. It provides confidence to create options, and it shows them how to be proactive participants in the world around them.

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am

learning how to sail my ship."

--Louisa May Alcott