Color sorting, Cursive letters, and Japanese

The other day Braeden had a bit of cabin fever, and Kelan had a cold.  I didn't like the idea of dragging Kelan out into the below zero wind chills so that Braeden could burn off energy.  Instead I thought up something to occupy his mind for a little while after nap.  I combined color sorting, cursive letter recognition, and Japanese.  I wrote both the color names in romaji, so that anyone can pronounce it, and katakana so he can see the symbols.  I feel equally rusty in writing both cursive and katakana. 

 

I started off with a pile of pompoms, an empty egg carton, colored pencils, scissors, glue, and construction paper.  I had 8 colors of pompoms, so I cut off two rows of the egg carton.   

 

To close up the egg carton, I cut off the top with an approximate extra inch and a half. 

Cut two slits into the top, folded them in and taped it.  

 

 Cut the center out of each of the bottom sections next.  This egg carton was set up perfectly to accommodate this.    

 

Each section was then covered with a color of construction paper that coordinated with the pom poms. I glued the papers on, then reopened the holes.  Doing it this way ensured that I wouldn't make the holes too big.  

 

To make boxes I cut rectangles from the construction paper, slit the corners about 1 inch in, 

 

glued each corner, 

 

and patiently held them until they were dry.  

 

On more construction paper I wrote the color in English cursive, romaji which is the romanized version of the Japanese language, and then in katakana at the bottom.  I glued each of these sheets onto the bottom of my boxes and filled them with their coordinating pom poms.  

I managed to get it set up just before he woke up. 

Here he is after he matched all the colors, sorting them back into their boxes to start over. 

Gardening in January, or I feel overwhelmed.

It was going great.  I had my Baker Creek catalog, http://www.rareseeds.com/, and had picked out this year's garden seeds.  Then I drug out the seeds left over from last year and the feeling of overwhelm struck.  Braeden had explored my seeds, without my knowledge.  Now I have quite a bit of mystery seeds to sort through, an order to adjust, and garden plots to write out.  However, spring is coming, so all is well.  

A substitute for oatmeal

This time of the year I crave warm carb laden comfort food all day long.  I attempted to make a paleo friendly substitute for baked oatmeal the other day.  The photos aren't that great, but it was late and I was in a hurry to get it in the oven before Kelan woke up.  I also didn't measure anything but one ingredient.  It's all 'to taste', or 'looks about right'.

 

I started with shredded low fat coconut flakes.  It's what I had in the pantry.  Ideally I would have had full fat coconut flakes.  You know, the big kind?

 

I added one can of full fat (bpa free) coconut milk.  And a lot more coconut.  I then added a little water until I got the consistency I liked.  

 I transferred it to a baking dish, and added ginger and allspice.  Tasted it, and it wasn't quite what I wanted.  So, I added 8 oz of no sugar added applesauce and cinnamon.  Then I stuck it in my convection oven, set to slow cook, and went to bed.

 It was pretty darn tasty! All the males in the house liked it.  It would even work as a crust for a pie.  Best of all, I didn't need to use a ton of eggs like I have to with coconut flour. 

2014

Here I sit with a brand new notebook, the first pages filled with lists and goals for the new year.  And here I sit for the second day doing nothing.  Yesterday was the beginning of my new detox.  It didn't sound too crazy on the 31st but it's proving to be very hard.  No sugar, no dairy, limited caffeine whole food, strict paleo for 30 days.  I'm not doing this to loose weight, but feel better.  My sugar cravings are out of control, and I'm curious to see if going dairy-free will help my eczema.  I went into it with the realization that I'm nursing a baby, and a toddler.  I may have to adjust to meet increased dietary needs for their sake.   Yesterday I was sluggish and wanted my cream and sugar in my coffee.  By the end of the day I had a migraine and felt nauseous.   Today I woke up shaking and with an upset stomach.  That candida bacteria fights back! I'll be honest, I did consume a little sugar with breakfast.  It just so happens it's really hard to find breakfast meats that don't have some form of sugar in them.  It's 4:30, and I finally felt up to making 'bullet proof coffee'.  It would be way better with sugar, but I'm sticking with it for the rest of the day at least. 

 Here's to hopefully taking the time to blog more. 

Wordless Wednesday: lists

fostering learning independence

While I still haven't made any decisions on introducing a second language to Braeden, we have started working on the phonetical sounds of letters.  Braeden knows all of his letters thanks to Dr. Seuss, and I have grown really bored with hearing what letter is what all day long.  Does it make me a bad parent, to say I got bored with my child? I'm digressing.  Anyway, I was bored so I started telling him the sounds of the letters.   He'd bring me a fridge magnet letter, tell me which one it was and if it was big or little.  I would then tell him the sound, which he would repeat.  Then he'd run off to get a new letter.  This left a pile of letters in my lap, and a pile of knowledge in his brain!
He also is very into coloring, and telling me what letter he has scribbled.  Some times they look just like a letter, and sometimes it takes a little imagination to see what he's seeing.  I started thinking about getting him some sort of letter tracing 'thing' so he could self-learn letter writing.  I'm very into kids doing things themselves.  Feeding, dressing, bathroom. You name it, I'm all for them doing it themselves. 
On an unrelated shopping trip I was waiting for a friend in the Target entrance, and wandered over to $1 bins.  I totally scored! I got several different letter tracing items, and phonics cards! He hasn't retained any of the sounds yet, or done more than scribble over the tracing letters but it will come.  I pull those out occasionally when he's having trouble self-occupying while I cook or clean. 

Culture Shock

Last week we packed up our Honda Insight and headed to visit my husband's family out on Cape Cod.  Whenever we leave our little corner of Western Massachusetts I feel like I experience parenting culture shock.  We go out among strangers, and see every type of parenting that has been given a monicker; helicopters, tigers, traditionalists, etc. 
The difference in parenting styles seems to smack me in the face, whereas at home we are very lucky to live in an area where, like us, many parents practice some version of gentle parenting.   I feel like in our area 'normal' encompasses one or more of the attachment parenting ideals; bed-sharing or co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, baby wearing, gentle discipline etc. In other parts of our state and the country I've witnessed the parental norm reflecting the parenting styles of the mid-20th century rather than what I feel is the current attachment parenting trend. 
This trend isn't something new, instead it is something old.  Instead of mirroring the last couple generations of parenting styles people are looking further back for guidance.  Back before there were TVs and computers to amuse even the youngest of babies, and extended families would work together to bring up the newest additions.  I think the most important aspect of attachment parenting is to guide children with your actions, not your words.  However, words can be extremely powerful as well. 
Two separate incidents from our recent vacation have been on my mind.  We headed out to the beach on our second day and as we were nearing the steps up to the beach from the parking lot we were pushing our stroller down (yep, even some times AP parents use strollers) we overheard a mother saying over and over again that she was so surprised that her daughter was 'good'.  This sweet little girl looked to be about a year old, and was cute as could be toddling around the beach in her swimsuit.  Her mama was so engrossed in her conversation that I don't believe she noticed her daughter was hanging on her every word.  While she was exploring the sand around her, she would pause and listen whenever her mama spoke.  I wonder at what age will she question why her mother was surprised that she was inherently good.  What happens when she starts to push boundaries, and question authority as all children do?  Will she stop being considered good, or is her goodness contingent on her continuing to go with her parents flow, and not exert her own will? 
The second experience was on our last day.   It was far from sunny, occasionally spitting rain, but warm so we headed to the park with the boys.  I watched as one mama arrived with her little girl who was about 18 months, scolded her for hanging back and then pushed her forward with the demand to 'go play'.  As a parent of a 2 year old who still takes quite a bit of time in new situations to adjust, I was sad that the little girl didn't have the support she needed to get comfortable on her own terms.  I find that Braeden warms up to new situations quicker if he isn't forced into joining them, and is allowed to hang back with the support of either myself or his daddy until he has fully observed everything and everyone.  Then watch out, because he turns into a ball of energy with a need to socialize. 
The mama of that little girl sat down with some friends at the table nearest our stroller, where Kelan was napping.  I spent my time going between checking on him in the stroller and talking with Peter as he watched Braeden run, jump, and climb everything he could.  At one point a boy, close to Braeden's age accidentally bumped his head.  Braeden called for me and started crying.  I could tell from his cry he was more startled and scared, then hurt.  I was hugging him, and we were talking about what happened when the boy's daddy, from the near by table, carried him over and demanded that he apologize NOW.  That poor little soul was mortified.  His face was bright red, I could tell he was embarrassed at the way he was being held, that he was being presented to strangers and commanded to speak, not to mention he had accidentally bumped someone and made them cry.  That last one is enough to embarrass most people.   Tears started to well up in his eyes too, and Braeden was now calm but uncomfortable with the strange man's tone towards his own child.  I told the little boy that we understood it was an accident, and that we weren't upset or mad at him.  I also said we could tell he felt badly for scaring Braeden, so he didn't need to use his words to apologize. 
Shortly thereafter both boys were back to playing and I was nursing Kelan.  The boy's mama seemed to be trying to interact with me by commenting on how hungry Kelan was.  When she started explaining to her younger boy about the baby I brought him over to show.  The mama said 'we love babies, but then they grow up into this, nodding down at her toddler, and then they're trouble'.  I couldn't stand that negativity directed at what seemed to be a sweet little guy.  I responded with 'I just love toddlers, they're so fun!' and walked over towards my boys.  I spent the rest of the time avoiding eye contact with them. 
Words are powerful tools, and our children's minds are like sponges.  I'm finding out just how trying these little people can be, and we're only in the beginning of it all.  However, I feel that as frustrating as these days can be, its really important to not put labels on children.  They are good, no matter if they follow your rules implicitly or question every thing.  Children are not troublesome.  They are adventurous.  They are curious.  They are full of awe and wonder at this world, and if we can just spend five minutes each day looking at things through their eyes our busy adult world would mesh so much better with their world of wonderment. 


What is the prevalent parenting style near you?  In what ways do you wish the parents in your community would alter their child-rearing ways?

*DISCLAIMER*  This post in no way means I think I am the perfect parent.  I am constantly wishing I could take back how I did something, and educating myself in different ways to be a more peaceful, gentle, child-friendly parent and adult.