Things to do with littles during Christmas
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This year has been busy. I took a step back from the blog as I tried to figure out my family's direction. The kids are no longer toddlers, but now a preschooler and a brand new kindergartner. We've gone from just swim as an activity to soccer and ballet. Once school school started, my son added a couple of after school clubs as well. He's a character, the class clown at heart, so I signed him up for a drama style club. He's also taking a cooking club because everyone can stand to learn a couple simple recipes. However, with this has come other expenses.
The activities themselves are not so expensive. It is the cost of all the required pieces. Soccer-- ball, cleats (he needed indoor and outdoor cleats), socks, bag, water bottle, shin guards...I'm sure I'm leaving something out. The uniform was apart of the cost of the fee. Then ballet--leotard, shoes, bun maker, tights, bag and something as a cover up. Drama as costumes, cooking required a bowl and spoon (not bad at all), and swim needs towels, bags, a cap, goggles, etc. I'm not complaining, just realizing trying to raise a well rounded child requires a financial investment early on. Typing those lists out made me tired just thinking of it. I'm thankful we are able to give them pieces of a childhood our parents were able to give us. Everything has gotten to be so expensive, that $20 doesn't go as far as it use to. Everything requires shoes and a bag!
To help mange things, I keep budgets of items the kids need for the activities they love (ballet, soccer, clubs) and the things that my husband and I are forcing them to learn (against their will), swim. I create lists and save items to shopping carts for later purchases. For example, I'll open a store's app or site, and see what it on sale. Find the items I need at different stores and click, "save for later." From there I decide which store coupons I can apply to get the best deals. I am able to see a real life total, so I know how much I need. I am also able to know if we can realistically afford certain activities. Lastly, I purchase what I need right now, and keep the rest saved for a later purchase. At a later date, I don't have to go back looking through sites for what I want, as it is already saved to my account.
The thing is, once I have purchased the requirements for an activity, we are able to use those items again. It also frees p money to add another activity later on. Example, my son already has soccer items. Once the next season rolls around, I only had to pay the activity fee. He is able to use the same bag, ball, etc. again. I may have to replace so items he's outgrown. However, I will not have to buy EVERYTHING at one time. It's even better when I am able to use the same items for different activities. Example, Crocs are used for ballet and swim. My daughter is able to put on her ballet shoes and her Crocs at the same time. It's perfect when when we are in a rush because we are late. She is also able to wear the same coverups, which are just daycare clothes, shorts or dresses. Now, the only issue is how to manage my time as a Family Activities Director.
How to build confidence in toddlersUplifting our children, not putting them downAs a long time educator, I have learned the power of the tongue. Words do hurt, The phrase, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is a flat out lie. Words have the the power to inspire and the power to kill. As adults, it is important we uplift our children, not put them down. Phrases such as, "you don't know anything," are not okay to say to a child. A child does know things, they have questions and they reinforcement that they are smart, the are loved, and they are beautiful. When a young child looks in the mirror, they should be proud of who they are. They should not only see the negative. No, a child isn't perfect. However, neither are you as an adult. To put it candidly, adults do dumb stuff.
Moving toys out of the family room toPutting toys away in kids' rooms
When I was pregnant with my daughter, my son was a year old. He was unable to bring toys downstairs from his bedroom on his own. So, I added a shelving unit to my baby shower registry to store books and toys. It gave things a home downstairs.
the toys kept coming
It seemed no matter how much I clean the shelf, placed more toys in their rooms, it was never neat. As soon as I donated a batch, it was another birthday, holiday or a friend was dropping off things their kids had outgrown. Eventually, I realized I was cleaning a losing battle. During the week, the kids picked up their toys and placed them on the shelf. They would be lopsided, out of place (according to how I wanted them), and generally messy. However, they were off the floor. Every now and then I would sort them, "just so" to make me feel good about life. Truthfully, I don't think my husband or kids realized I cleaned it. Gradually, I started moving toys and books to their rooms. Things would be donated, broken toys thrown away.
Parenting peacefully(ish)
This weekend was amazing, I got to clean the house. Do the dishes, clean bathrooms, all that fun stuff. Outside of the regular mom fun, I was able to spend some time in the backyard with my kids. I also learned the power of the parenting phrase, "what is the harm?"
Toddlers are never happy
After dragging the bounce house out, they decided it was too hot and didn't want to bounce more than 10 mins. So, they moved on to the playhouse. My daughter brought out their grill and begin to cook. My son decided he wanted to play with other toys. He went in the house for a moment, then returned. After a little bit, I see my kids dragging their chairs out to the middle of the yard. As they began to situate their chairs as only toddlers can, I gave them a beach umbrella so they could have a little shade. In true toddler fashion, they could not get the chairs how they wanted them.
Why do they need more chairs?
My son said, "I need to go inside. I want the green chairs." Fine, no big deal. "Go ahead," I said. Now, I could have approached this request differently: Why do they need more chairs when they had chairs? "You have chairs, no." "No, you aren't going inside again. Stay out here and play." "If you go in you stay in." Instead, I let him be. At the end of the day, what was the harm of letting him go inside for the chairs he wanted? There was no harm in saying, "okay, go ahead."
He went in and came out with two green chairs. Little did I know, this child and his sister had a plan. They proceeded to take the 4 chairs, to create lounge seats! I wish I could take credit for this plan, but I can't. It was the cutest thing I'd seen from them. My two toddlers figured out how to relax in the backyard after a long afternoon of playing.
They may have sat there for 15 mins, but it was a moment I won't forget. Never underestimate toddlers who are allowed to be kids. It also has me looking for kid size lounge chairs. "What is the harm?" The only harm was preventing kids from being kids, trying something new, and missing out on this toddler sibling moment. First days with my little crew
CHildhood LanguageTheir relationship is entertaining to watch. I swear they had their own language up until the time my daughter was able to utter her first words. They were able to understand each other long before my daughter was able to talk. My son understood some of her newborn and baby cries. He would get up and do something for her. She would stop crying. It was cute.
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