This past week has been a total waste for me, in the blogging/social life/general friendliness department. I don't know what my damage was, but I just couldn't bring myself to want to go out the door. Any words in my head would dry up the minute I tried to blog it out. I don't think I was depressed, but I was certainly anti-social. All I wanted to do was hide out indoors with my Dudes and watch trashy TV. (Speaking of-Jersey Shore's back!) I finally got over myself, just in time for us all to come down with various tummy woes. One missed birthday party and two ruined outfits later, things are now back to normal, and I may have things to say again!
I know I had planned to post a recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, but B. kind of beat me to the punch with her recipe. So, if you want to chip it up, fold in 3/4 to 1 c. of chocolate chips right before pouring it into the pan. I used 1 c. and thought it was a little too chocolatey, which means I really must have been out of it last week, because there is no such thing as too much chocolate.
The mini-preschool project was put on hold for the last week or so, in the name of helping my sister and her family get settled. Things are still moving forward on it-the felt board is done, the magnetic boards have had a work out, and today's goals are homemade play dough and getting a line for drying art projects hung up. I still need to get the chalkboards finished, but that might not happen this week-between agreeing to some extended child care for my niece today, going out of town, a Crew game, and hosting a birthday party, I'm not sure when I'll get it all done!
I was introduced to a concept today that I probably could have used this past week when my attitude was in serious need of adjustment. It's called a "love bomb", and while it seems to mainly be recommended for use with children who are going through a traumatic time (a death, divorce, etc.) or are having behavioral issues, I think it's something that can be used any time you think the child (or adult) in your life needs a boost. You pretty much just spoil the person in question for a day, or a few hours-spend undivided time with your child. Play their games, do something fun, give them some treats. The focus isn't meant to be on money spent, or how lavish you make the time together, but on making your child feel like they are important to you. I suppose the idea sounds kind of obvious, or maybe even counterproductive-spoiling your child? What?? But I have yet to see a child spoiled for life by one day of ice cream for dinner. Jeffrey's getting some love bombing on Friday. He's had a hard time dealing with suddenly having all these other kids to compete with, and he's been acting out on it. So he gets an all-access pass to mommy and daddy for the day, along with a trip to a pretty cool children's museum, and an ice-cream parlor. I know it's not a long-term solution for his sudden desire to smack any child that gets too close, but I'm hoping it'll help "reset" things for him before the birthday party invasion. Besides, my chores will still be there at the end of the day, but my little boy won't always be.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Holy Crap, I Have A Preschool!
As you all know, I have a son. I stay home with him. Finding ways to entertain him is usually pretty easy. I taught preschool for 10 years, so I have a decent stash of ideas to fall back on. But, momma alone isn't always the best playmate. The Little Dude has lots of cousins, but they all live just far enough away to make getting together on a regular basis kind of a pain. Also, losing my job back in April meant that we are now working with a smaller budget. So, how could I manage to stay home with LD, keep him happy, but still work? Babysitting!
At first, the idea was to just bring in one child, LD's age, for 2-3 days a week. We found a fit pretty quickly, and while my little guy has a bit of a love/hate relationship with our new friend, it's working well. So well, in fact, that I'm looking for another child to watch. 3 children, in my opinion, isn't really a preschool. But adding my sister's 4 daughters to the mix in the afternoons makes it a preschool! My sis and her family are moving by us-as in, the same apartment complex. We're all pretty excited about it. Big Dude and the bro-in-law are totally brothers from different mothers, we all get along great. However, the move, while necessary for them, will strap them financially. Childcare for 4 kids is EXPENSIVE. So I'm babysitting on the barter basis.
Since I'm adding 4 kids with no increase in income to offset it, I'm having to be very crafty and frugal about it. But, since I'm coming from a teacher background, I have high expectations. I want the best for the kids. So, I did a little research. There's so many blogs out there with DIY ideas! I came away really inspired. Next, I polled my friends on Facebook for ideas. They really came through for me - Hayley suggested blanket tents, cooking projects, and the splash park at Bicentennial. Bonnie of The Not So Modern Housewife gave me one that sounds awesome. Open the dishwasher, dump some "ingredients" inside the lid, let junior mix it up and play, then shut the door and run the washer to clean it up! BJ reminded me of sock puppets, Laura had some game ideas, as well as lunchtime fun like an indoor picnic or a pizza topping buffet. Sabrina seriously educated me about educational games with beanbags, and music by Hap Palmer that kids can act out. Connie reminded me about the simple joy of decorating a shoe box. Her daughter, a former student of mine, used a shoebox to make a tzedakah box (a box used by children in the Jewish faith to save money for a charitable donation). Aren't these ladies awesome?
The Big Dude (who may or may not realize that he agreed to help with a bit of this!) and I will be having a crafty weekend. We're converting one side of our boy's train table into a chalk table. I also hope to make a dual-sided felt board with play pieces, a geo board, and a light box. I also have been working on some file folder games, and I have recipes ready for play-doh, bubble mixture, watercolor paints, and sidewalk paints. A large plastic tub with a lid will become a simple sensory table. I'm raiding the closet for dress up clothes, and the scrapbooking supplies for art materials. Some shimmery material swatches are now being used for music and movement activities. I could go on and on...but I do plan to post pictures and instructions for some of the bigger projects. If you have kids/watch kids/teach kids, these could really be some great resources for you!
At first, the idea was to just bring in one child, LD's age, for 2-3 days a week. We found a fit pretty quickly, and while my little guy has a bit of a love/hate relationship with our new friend, it's working well. So well, in fact, that I'm looking for another child to watch. 3 children, in my opinion, isn't really a preschool. But adding my sister's 4 daughters to the mix in the afternoons makes it a preschool! My sis and her family are moving by us-as in, the same apartment complex. We're all pretty excited about it. Big Dude and the bro-in-law are totally brothers from different mothers, we all get along great. However, the move, while necessary for them, will strap them financially. Childcare for 4 kids is EXPENSIVE. So I'm babysitting on the barter basis.
Since I'm adding 4 kids with no increase in income to offset it, I'm having to be very crafty and frugal about it. But, since I'm coming from a teacher background, I have high expectations. I want the best for the kids. So, I did a little research. There's so many blogs out there with DIY ideas! I came away really inspired. Next, I polled my friends on Facebook for ideas. They really came through for me - Hayley suggested blanket tents, cooking projects, and the splash park at Bicentennial. Bonnie of The Not So Modern Housewife gave me one that sounds awesome. Open the dishwasher, dump some "ingredients" inside the lid, let junior mix it up and play, then shut the door and run the washer to clean it up! BJ reminded me of sock puppets, Laura had some game ideas, as well as lunchtime fun like an indoor picnic or a pizza topping buffet. Sabrina seriously educated me about educational games with beanbags, and music by Hap Palmer that kids can act out. Connie reminded me about the simple joy of decorating a shoe box. Her daughter, a former student of mine, used a shoebox to make a tzedakah box (a box used by children in the Jewish faith to save money for a charitable donation). Aren't these ladies awesome?
The Big Dude (who may or may not realize that he agreed to help with a bit of this!) and I will be having a crafty weekend. We're converting one side of our boy's train table into a chalk table. I also hope to make a dual-sided felt board with play pieces, a geo board, and a light box. I also have been working on some file folder games, and I have recipes ready for play-doh, bubble mixture, watercolor paints, and sidewalk paints. A large plastic tub with a lid will become a simple sensory table. I'm raiding the closet for dress up clothes, and the scrapbooking supplies for art materials. Some shimmery material swatches are now being used for music and movement activities. I could go on and on...but I do plan to post pictures and instructions for some of the bigger projects. If you have kids/watch kids/teach kids, these could really be some great resources for you!
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