Being the "frugal" mom I am, I picked up quite a few used toys at this terrific St Vincent's Thrift store in SOH before we moved (oh I really really miss that place). The trouble with picking up toys in a thrift store is you are not always aware of the completeness of the items if they are bagged or boxed. Though I managed quite a few quality scores, I also had a couple of duds. I bought one indoor tent and realized when I got home it didn't have any poles and were unable to easily configure something. Hey, it was only a buck so how can you go wrong? Luckily for me (and H), he received one for his birthday last year and the other one has been relegated to a closet somewhere in case we need a backup. The second obvious item is a little more on the fence. I picked up a railroad track and train by Playschool circa 1994. Whenever I pick up used toys, I try to find one online so I can figure out how it works, if its missing pieces, or just take up the challenge of finding something out about it. I have scored some really great used European toys and been able to find them online.
This track is not the tiny Thomas the Tank wooden sized tracks and trains (although I did purchase one of those at an off brand cheapo store and while the track definitely has some quality issues it does the trick and I even found some extra track all for under $15). This Playschool track is perfect for toddlers. It is large, plastic, snaps together, and has interesting details. I would say the track itself is about 3" wide. It is also not Little People - we have a plethora of those - again due to various used toy purchases.
Unfortunately, the set has some issues from being well used - it only has two cars - a coal car and a caboose - who needs an engine right? Try as I might, I have been unable to locate this same set online for parts of even to tell how much is exactly missing. At first, I thought I would just trash it but I decided to see if H might at least play with the track using some other toys. As it turns out, he loves the cars themselves. They are often elsewhere (on our windowsills which are only 12" from the floor and 7" wide-ish and perfect height for parking cars, boats, planes, trucks, and whatever. H has noticed that there seems to be some missing crucial pieces. "Mommy, no more. No more, Mommy."
"Yes, H, there are no more train cars. We can still play with them though." This has beccome a standard phrase. If a toy is missing a part "It's broken but we can still play with it!" I'm not sure at what age H will comprehend that maybe it can't be played with if it's too badly damanged but we aren't there yet thanks to toddler ingenuity or ignorance.
So the caboose handily becomes a "trailer" for Lightning McQueen and the coal car carries all kinds of things. The track is used as well but is big enough it doesn't easily travel. We've been playing with the tracks and watching Chuggington for a few weeks now but H has just started with a special phrase. I am not sure where he heard it. I haven't said it. The video doesn't say it so I assume it comes from school. At first, I wasn't sure what I was hearing but finally after much intent scrutiny I deciphered this:
"All abooooooorn! All aboooooooorn!"
Yup, a new phrase for sure and too cute to correct.
Like what you read?
Please vote daily! Just click on the banner!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Touch
Love is real , real is love
Love is feeling , feeling love
Love is wanting to be loved
Love is touch, touch is love
Love is reaching, reaching love
Love is asking to be loved
Love is you
You and me
Love is knowing
we can be
Love is free, free is love
Love is living, living love
Love is needed to be loved
by John Lennon
From the first moment I had H in my permanent physical possession, I have tried to create a sense of comfort and love with touch. The very first night he went to sleep in the hotel room crib, I spent quite a while rubbing his back gently and slowly. That was just over two years ago. He was never one for much rocking or putting on lotion so every night when I laid him down in his crib, I would rub his back. Now that he no longer sleeps in his crib (or in his bed for that matter) I make a point to rub his back whenever I get a chance. H has never commented on it but seems to accept it.
H has never been a cuddler. He has never been eager to give hugs or kisses. He will occasionally pat me or touch me but he's generally not a touchy feely kid. I am sure this is part personality and part early life in an orphanage when no one just picks you up and holds you just because. It wasn't because they weren't cared for but the workers just didn't have the time. So, H never really developed a sense of just cuddling. These days he does, however, want to sit next to me or his daddy on the couch when we watch his movies. He is willing to be picked up and will hold onto me when I do so. He will occassionally hold onto my arm or leg and say "You're stuuuuuck." He will hover and hide around my legs when he is being shy or unsure of a situation. He understands physical closeness but doesn't always have a need to express it.
For some reason last night, H woke up crying incessantly and could not get back to sleep. I laid on the floor with him in his room but he just squirmed and was restless. When I tried the usual routine of just laying there for a while and then softly announcing I would be returning to my room, I was met with wails. Eventually, not wanting to sleep o the floor, I asked him if he wanted to sleep with me in my room and he acquiesced. We have a king bed. I laid him down on Daddy's side and covered him up thinking he would have plenty of room to squirm. No sooner than I had climbed in my side that H suctioned up to me. He still squirmed and tossed for a while - longer than I did as I finally fell asleep. H's one form of physical comfort is to rub his feet against me - usually my legs just to make sure I am still there. As you can imagine, it is not necessarily easy to fall asleep with the occasional foot being routinely shoved against you. Oh well, I take it for what it is meant to be - most of the time.
Tonight, H would not settle down for bed. At first he cried and fussed and wanted to sleep with me again. Ummm...no. We did our routine, book, banana, Skye with Daddy, music, lights out, lay down, and leave. What came next was 30 minutes of crying, whining, fussing and going back and forth between his room and my room. I would follow him back to his room, stand outside the door, and talk quietly, then firmly, then authoritatively, then a few "I'm going to have to put toys away" comments. Finally, it became clear he wasn't going to settle down on his own. I gave in and laid down with him again to try to get him to sleep. He was still crying and sniffling. After a minute or two of laying down with him he requested "Mommy, rub my back." Understand this is only the second time he has ever asked for me to do that. The first time was just a couple of days ago laying in the bed with me in the morning - that story was part of my epic blog that was eaten by the cyber ghost at 4 am and never made it to publication.
Anyhow, he was laying on his back so I just lightly rubbed his tummy, side, and chest for awhile. He became calmer. The cries subsided. He settled down. After a few minutes of rubbing, he took my hand and just held it until he fell sound asleep. Do you know, at that moment I began paying attention to the music playing in the background and it was the song above. It was "Love is touch, touch is love" to be exact.
Love is feeling , feeling love
Love is wanting to be loved
Love is touch, touch is love
Love is reaching, reaching love
Love is asking to be loved
Love is you
You and me
Love is knowing
we can be
Love is free, free is love
Love is living, living love
Love is needed to be loved
by John Lennon
From the first moment I had H in my permanent physical possession, I have tried to create a sense of comfort and love with touch. The very first night he went to sleep in the hotel room crib, I spent quite a while rubbing his back gently and slowly. That was just over two years ago. He was never one for much rocking or putting on lotion so every night when I laid him down in his crib, I would rub his back. Now that he no longer sleeps in his crib (or in his bed for that matter) I make a point to rub his back whenever I get a chance. H has never commented on it but seems to accept it.
H has never been a cuddler. He has never been eager to give hugs or kisses. He will occasionally pat me or touch me but he's generally not a touchy feely kid. I am sure this is part personality and part early life in an orphanage when no one just picks you up and holds you just because. It wasn't because they weren't cared for but the workers just didn't have the time. So, H never really developed a sense of just cuddling. These days he does, however, want to sit next to me or his daddy on the couch when we watch his movies. He is willing to be picked up and will hold onto me when I do so. He will occassionally hold onto my arm or leg and say "You're stuuuuuck." He will hover and hide around my legs when he is being shy or unsure of a situation. He understands physical closeness but doesn't always have a need to express it.
For some reason last night, H woke up crying incessantly and could not get back to sleep. I laid on the floor with him in his room but he just squirmed and was restless. When I tried the usual routine of just laying there for a while and then softly announcing I would be returning to my room, I was met with wails. Eventually, not wanting to sleep o the floor, I asked him if he wanted to sleep with me in my room and he acquiesced. We have a king bed. I laid him down on Daddy's side and covered him up thinking he would have plenty of room to squirm. No sooner than I had climbed in my side that H suctioned up to me. He still squirmed and tossed for a while - longer than I did as I finally fell asleep. H's one form of physical comfort is to rub his feet against me - usually my legs just to make sure I am still there. As you can imagine, it is not necessarily easy to fall asleep with the occasional foot being routinely shoved against you. Oh well, I take it for what it is meant to be - most of the time.
Tonight, H would not settle down for bed. At first he cried and fussed and wanted to sleep with me again. Ummm...no. We did our routine, book, banana, Skye with Daddy, music, lights out, lay down, and leave. What came next was 30 minutes of crying, whining, fussing and going back and forth between his room and my room. I would follow him back to his room, stand outside the door, and talk quietly, then firmly, then authoritatively, then a few "I'm going to have to put toys away" comments. Finally, it became clear he wasn't going to settle down on his own. I gave in and laid down with him again to try to get him to sleep. He was still crying and sniffling. After a minute or two of laying down with him he requested "Mommy, rub my back." Understand this is only the second time he has ever asked for me to do that. The first time was just a couple of days ago laying in the bed with me in the morning - that story was part of my epic blog that was eaten by the cyber ghost at 4 am and never made it to publication.
Anyhow, he was laying on his back so I just lightly rubbed his tummy, side, and chest for awhile. He became calmer. The cries subsided. He settled down. After a few minutes of rubbing, he took my hand and just held it until he fell sound asleep. Do you know, at that moment I began paying attention to the music playing in the background and it was the song above. It was "Love is touch, touch is love" to be exact.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Effect
As an adult involved in any child's life you want to have a lasting positive (hopefully) effect. I hope my nephews remember me fondly as one is all grown, one is just about there, and the third is a man-child. I have a niece who is also grown this year and has graduated high school. I hope there is loving and respectful remembrances of our times together rare and distant though they may be.
As a parent, you want the same type of effect only magnified 1,000 times in the little daily activities and moments of life. You want that little voice in their his head to say "be careful," "be polite," "be compassionate," be you." And there are the moments like this morning on our way to school when you know. You receive confirmation that you, at times, have made such an impression on a young life that it appears quite unexpectedly. There is an immense source of pride in knowing that at some point, your child actually paid attention to you - for a second anyway.
I previously wrote about our song "Where are the cows" (which I realized a few days ago is sung to Farmer in the Dell - don't ask I am just learning about Doggie Doggie Where's Your Bone - at H's request - and need to figure out the melody on that one so my mind is preoccupied). So, we sing this song on the way to school as we pass a large pasture. H has begun filling in every other line for me.
Mommy: "Where are the cows?"
H "Where are the cows?"
Mommy "Where are the cows?"
H "Are they outside today."
He is capable of adding previously rendered verses, too, although somehow "They must be in the barn" always comes out "They must be in the farm." Oh, well, it's close enough.
I usually try to sing nonsensical ridiculous songs about whatever comes to mind, I don't always have a good emelody in my head but try to make it simple so I can repeat it if required. As a reasult, H has put in a few requests lately. Tonight he wanted me to sing about Buzz - as in Buzz Lightyear. That one was not one of my better ones. I do take pride in "Rock-a-Bye Kitty" and "Where is H" - sung to Frere Jacques (that was one of my ealiest ones and tought to beat.)
Where is H
Where is H
Where'd he go
Tell me so
Where did he go off to
What did he get into
Tell me so
Mommy wants to know
This originated when Mommy was in the shower and H would wander off playing - it usually worked as he would treat it like hide-n-seel and come back so I could keep an eye on him.
This morning we were doing our little "Where are the cows" ritual when we reached the main road again to turn towards H's school. It is a Red School which was handy as when we changed schools we just referred to it as H's Red School. On a side note, we drove by his "old" school the other day - not a usual occurrence as we don't often travel that road - when H noted "There's my old school!"
Anyhow, a tiny little slightly distracted voice sang from the back seat "I don't see my red school, I don't see my red school, I don't see my red school" trailing off so I didn't hear how it ended up. Hurray! It was completely on his own. He came up with the words and used the melody to sing a totally ridiculous, completely irrelevant, and absolutely nonsensical song.
He has been paying attention.
As a parent, you want the same type of effect only magnified 1,000 times in the little daily activities and moments of life. You want that little voice in their his head to say "be careful," "be polite," "be compassionate," be you." And there are the moments like this morning on our way to school when you know. You receive confirmation that you, at times, have made such an impression on a young life that it appears quite unexpectedly. There is an immense source of pride in knowing that at some point, your child actually paid attention to you - for a second anyway.
I previously wrote about our song "Where are the cows" (which I realized a few days ago is sung to Farmer in the Dell - don't ask I am just learning about Doggie Doggie Where's Your Bone - at H's request - and need to figure out the melody on that one so my mind is preoccupied). So, we sing this song on the way to school as we pass a large pasture. H has begun filling in every other line for me.
Mommy: "Where are the cows?"
H "Where are the cows?"
Mommy "Where are the cows?"
H "Are they outside today."
He is capable of adding previously rendered verses, too, although somehow "They must be in the barn" always comes out "They must be in the farm." Oh, well, it's close enough.
I usually try to sing nonsensical ridiculous songs about whatever comes to mind, I don't always have a good emelody in my head but try to make it simple so I can repeat it if required. As a reasult, H has put in a few requests lately. Tonight he wanted me to sing about Buzz - as in Buzz Lightyear. That one was not one of my better ones. I do take pride in "Rock-a-Bye Kitty" and "Where is H" - sung to Frere Jacques (that was one of my ealiest ones and tought to beat.)
Where is H
Where is H
Where'd he go
Tell me so
Where did he go off to
What did he get into
Tell me so
Mommy wants to know
This originated when Mommy was in the shower and H would wander off playing - it usually worked as he would treat it like hide-n-seel and come back so I could keep an eye on him.
This morning we were doing our little "Where are the cows" ritual when we reached the main road again to turn towards H's school. It is a Red School which was handy as when we changed schools we just referred to it as H's Red School. On a side note, we drove by his "old" school the other day - not a usual occurrence as we don't often travel that road - when H noted "There's my old school!"
Anyhow, a tiny little slightly distracted voice sang from the back seat "I don't see my red school, I don't see my red school, I don't see my red school" trailing off so I didn't hear how it ended up. Hurray! It was completely on his own. He came up with the words and used the melody to sing a totally ridiculous, completely irrelevant, and absolutely nonsensical song.
He has been paying attention.
Saying of the Day: Watch this!
Very tired tonight so only have time to eek out this little H gem. Not sure what happened to the 1 1/2 hour post I wrote last week at 3 am when my body decided it didn't want to sleep. I got a message that said none of my changes would be saved, (likely some errant key click in my awake at 3 am stupor), hit "cancel" and voila - nothing left. What???? It was a good one, too.
"Watch this" has become a new phrase in our household. Some would think it would be used for daring feats of athleticism, or stunning acts of a new accomplishments, and in some households that would be correct. Not in ours. This phrase was first uttered in its truest form when H began using the hand railing to go up and down the stairs. Yup. The hand railing. Why? Well, I imagine it had to do with a slightly offhand comment "H, look at you, you're such a big boy you are using the hand railing." This set the wheels in motion. I suppose he heard it said at school because we don't have any other kids his age around us for him to get the gist of this. Maybe this is why when he uses this phrase, it's not all really all that, if you know what I mean.
Did H use it when he discovered he could ride the skateboard head first down the driveway? Heck no. In fact, not a peep. He didn't even look my way. He simply laid on the board facing down the drive and discovered it sloped just enough to get a good smooth ride on into the grass (well wishful thinking grass more like dirt and pine needles but still fairly soft).
Did H use it when he jumped off the side of the pool? Nah. That's old hat. How about when he peddled his little heart out down the street? Nope. Every day fare for him.
Usually, little kids use it when they are showing off and want some attention to the possibly naughty and slightly dangerous activity in which they are about to engage (since he can't do it for bragging rights as he has no siblings his age).
So when exactly does he use this phrase?
"No thank you, Mommy."
"Watch this!"
"Mommy, no thank you." (Big grin)
Yes, that's right my little hellion uses it when he answers "no thank you" politely and almost 100% of the time he says this phrase immediately after and states "no thank you" again.
I don't know if I'm more disturbed that he uses it when he wants to get extra attention for being polite (a must in our household) since it seems slightly off kilter and inappropriate or that doesn't use it when he's about to do some slightly naughty and possibly dangerous feat. This would indicate to me he sees being slightly naughty and dangerous as just the regular mundane business of being a little boy....
"Watch this" has become a new phrase in our household. Some would think it would be used for daring feats of athleticism, or stunning acts of a new accomplishments, and in some households that would be correct. Not in ours. This phrase was first uttered in its truest form when H began using the hand railing to go up and down the stairs. Yup. The hand railing. Why? Well, I imagine it had to do with a slightly offhand comment "H, look at you, you're such a big boy you are using the hand railing." This set the wheels in motion. I suppose he heard it said at school because we don't have any other kids his age around us for him to get the gist of this. Maybe this is why when he uses this phrase, it's not all really all that, if you know what I mean.
Did H use it when he discovered he could ride the skateboard head first down the driveway? Heck no. In fact, not a peep. He didn't even look my way. He simply laid on the board facing down the drive and discovered it sloped just enough to get a good smooth ride on into the grass (well wishful thinking grass more like dirt and pine needles but still fairly soft).
Did H use it when he jumped off the side of the pool? Nah. That's old hat. How about when he peddled his little heart out down the street? Nope. Every day fare for him.
Usually, little kids use it when they are showing off and want some attention to the possibly naughty and slightly dangerous activity in which they are about to engage (since he can't do it for bragging rights as he has no siblings his age).
So when exactly does he use this phrase?
"No thank you, Mommy."
"Watch this!"
"Mommy, no thank you." (Big grin)
Yes, that's right my little hellion uses it when he answers "no thank you" politely and almost 100% of the time he says this phrase immediately after and states "no thank you" again.
I don't know if I'm more disturbed that he uses it when he wants to get extra attention for being polite (a must in our household) since it seems slightly off kilter and inappropriate or that doesn't use it when he's about to do some slightly naughty and possibly dangerous feat. This would indicate to me he sees being slightly naughty and dangerous as just the regular mundane business of being a little boy....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)