I apologize, but today’s post is a bit short. After being sick several days, I’m behind on pre-posting, and still trying to re-coop…
These cookies are so so so heavenly! All I did to modify the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction (found here) was we used white chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips. 🙂 SUPER easy cookies and super super moist and yummy. We’ll definitely be making them again – SOON! They were awesome for getting Becca to help because they came together super quick.
So, of course today’s book would be Wacky Wednesday
I’ve been busy. Really, really busy. God has blessed me with a lot of work, and I guess I need to see all the household chores as blessings as well… so yeah, my cup has been running over. And one of the things that I have been falling down on has been jotting down the little cute things that Becca says. Sigh. So, I decided to sit down and ask her some specific questions about Dr. Seuss’ books.
Here we go – Becca’s thoughts on Dr. Seuss:
Which Dr. Seuss book is your favorite? “Gertrude McFuzz, Mommy. You know that.”
What other Dr. Seuss books do you like? “I like The Foot Book.”
Ok, let’s put your Dr. Seuss books in order by how much you like them.
Which is your favorite between There’s a Wocket in my Pocket and Oh the Thinks You Can Think? “Thinks. For sure.”
Ok, what about between Thinks and The Shape of Me? “Shapes of Me. I love that one.”
Well, what about between Shapes of Me and Fox in Socks? “Fox. Fox is so so silly.” (insert giggling)
What makes Fox silly? (She proceeds to flip through the book to her favorite page.) “There! When the fox is on the top of the box and the box is on top of Knox!” (Insert some serious giggling here!)
Ok, well, if you like the Fox so much, which one is your favorite between Fox and The Foot Book? “The Foot Book. I told you. It’s my favorite after Gertrude!”
Ok, so other than Gertrude, who is your favorite Dr. Seuss character? (Insert a discussion about who the main character is in a ton of Dr. Seuss books – I’ll spare you the details!) “I like Horton. He is nice to the Who’s even though they are little. That’s good.”
Who is your favorite author? (Honestly, I fully expected her to say Eric Carle – this is the girl who opened up her Eric Carle alphabet puzzle the other day and said “I love Eric Carle.”) “I don’t know. I don’t know who’s my favorite. I just like them all. That ok?”
To finish out this month’s Tuesday mini-series on Gross Motor Strengthening activities, today I want to share with you some ideas for your kids for when you take them to the playground. Something about having a second child has made me be not quite the same helicopter mom that I used to be. And combining that with Becca’s age and growing abilities has been a really good thing for her physically. Because I’ve started letting go and letting her do more things on her own. She used to be really scared on the playground. Everything looked big and overwhelming. She needed help with everything. Part of that was her age, and part of it I truly believe was her reflecting my emotions toward the whole event. Last year around this time, we enrolled her in a six week gymnastics class at a local place. That made a huge difference for BOTH of us on her confidence level, and she started being more willing to do things! YAY!
But, with the arrival of little brother, new changes began to occur for Becca – I needed her to be able to get into the car by herself. (Once I open the door.) Showing her how to climb into the car and into her car seat was a process, but now that she has mastered it, I’m starting to see her really gaining confidence on the playground. Because she knows how to crawl, stretch, and climb into places that aren’t right on the ground anymore. And also because Mommy is often holding baby brother, and she needs to do things herself.
Enter the metal bridge/stairs at our local park. It had been a while since we had been to the park, and one sunny afternoon recently we went on over, and she really wanted to do the metal stairs. She asked me if she could try them. For some reason, I didn’t hesitate. I said “sure, just be careful! Watch where you put your feet.” Here I am, holding Grayson, didn’t think to bring my carrier, didn’t have the stroller… just trusting that she, my super dramatic, fall all the time, run into every wall child would be ok. And she was. I just knew she would be. I watched her carefully, and guided her through verbally the first time. She was SO proud when she reached the top. She did it over and over again that day. One time, her foot slipped off of the bottom rung (thank God it was the bottom!) and she felt what it feels like to step through. After that, she was cautious, but I encouraged her to keep going, and she did it several more times. I snapped these pictures from the bench.
Young children often have irrational fears, and as parents, it’s often hard to know how to combat those fears. One fabulous source for talking about fears is our Dr. Seuss connection today, in our week long Seussical tribute to the man and his work. Have you read this book with your kids yet? Becca loves this book, and it’s a fabulous way to approach fears with humor, and to realize that maybe there’s not really so much out there to be afraid of after all. (Buy your copy here – aff link thank you!)
It’s amazing how once they conquer one of those fears they have, they are empowered. Once Becca conquered the metal bridge, when we went back a week or two later, she immediately went to the chain ladder and asked “Mommy, do you think I can climb this? I think so. Ok?” I replied, “Sure you can! Just watch your feet AND your hands.” I verbally guided her through where to put her hands and feet as she climbed, and stayed back so she had to do it herself. She did it just great, and did it over and over again all by herself without verbal cues or even me standing close. It’s just baffling to me why sometimes I think she can’t do something, but when I am forced to step back and let her just do it, she does great. Maybe I need to take a lesson from Dr. Seuss too… and let go of some of my irrational Mommy fears… how about you?
This week as we begin this mini-series of Dr. Seuss activities leading up to his 111th birthday on March 2nd, I thought I’d start out with a little activity that you can do regardless of weather – since I know many of my readers are not down here in South Texas!
Becca LOVES to play with our flashlights. She’s seriously flashlight obsessed. She’s always asking for it and wanting to spotlight things. And, she really enjoys Dr. Seuss’s book, The Shape of Me and Other Stuff
I started by showing her my hand on the wall. She really wanted to hold the flashlight, but didn’t understand the concept of holding something between the flashlight and the wall. It was a great lesson on listening to directions, as well as discovering – the shadows looked better the closer the item was to the wall, and the closer it was to the center of the flashlight beam! She tried all kinds of her brother’s toys, and enjoyed looking at her own shape on the wall. At one point, she finally laid the flashlight down on the floor, and the shape of the toolbox appeared on the wall. She was fascinated. So then, she started setting the light on the floor to discover what else would show up on the wall. It was a really fun activity, and kept her occupied for a good 10 minutes – with zero prep time on my part! Gotta love that!
EXTENSION IDEA: After you do the initial shadow play, you could easily create a basket of items to look at taking the book and finding some of the items he talks about to put in the basket. This would easily create a shadow sensory station! Just set it up in a darker area of your home so your child could do shadow play with the items when they need or want an alone-time activity. If you have a “quiet place” for your child to go when they need to escape, this would be a fabulous activity to have there.
If you’ve been reading my blog or following me on Facebook for any amount of time, you have probably gathered that (if not directly read) Becca has some sensory processing issues. In all of my research about Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), I have learned that this disorder is so vast and so extremely different from one child to another that it’s super hard to quantify. I would say on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being barely having SPD or 10 being having severe SPD that totally makes the child unable to function, Becca is probably (on most days) about a 3. On most days, she does really well. Especially now that we have identified her needs, and identified her triggers that cause problems. We can usually head things off at the pass before they become a real issue.
Another thing that has helped her immensely has been having places in our house to call her own. She is a very independent child who likes to be left alone. Obviously, not all kids with SPD have this character trait. But, for those who do, I HIGHLY recommend setting up a very small, cozy spot in the main area of your home as a “Quiet Place.” The Quiet Place idea was born actually in Cody’s mind, as we struggled with her through mealtimes. The thought was that if she felt she needed to quiet down, she could go there. So, our Quiet Place is in our dining room, right next to the table.
Wedged between our China hutch, and her little art station, it’s just what the picture shows – a bean bag. SUPER SIMPLE. We introduced it to her and told her it’s her special “Quiet Place” – a place where she can take a rest anytime she needs to get away. I truly had no idea if she would really put herself in time out when she needed it. It was a leap of faith, and honestly, Cody really really gets her in a way that I often don’t… so when he has an idea, I run with it!
This has been a fabulous thing for her. When we first introduced it, I went to the “Quiet Place” with her and we’d pull a foam puzzle out of her art station and work it together, practicing whispering. The first few weeks, I had to really encourage her to go over there – “Why don’t you take this book to your Quiet Place?” Or “Why don’t you take this animal habitat to your Quiet Place?” Now, if I can’t find her, that’s where she is. Every. Single. Time. She has learned that if she just needs to escape whatever situation is bothering her, she can go there. I love that she finds comfort and shelter when she needs it.
For her, when she has a sensory trigger go off, it doesn’t always instigate a total crying meltdown. It can start up really hateful behavior, or it can just cause her to completely shutdown. More than once, I have seen her almost zombie-walk to her Quiet Place, and fall onto the beanbag. At that point, I turn off ANYTHING that is making noise, and if Grayson is awake, I take him into his room to play, and tell her she can come in when she’s ready before I shut the door. Usually within 5 minutes, she’s back to normal and joining us again.
Finding what works for your child is a great challenge for ANY parent of ANY child. But if that child has any sort of special need whatsoever – be it mental, emotional, physical, or dietary, the challenge is so much greater. It is my hope that as we find things that are consistently successful for her, I can share them with you so that maybe, just maybe our tried-and-true ideas will help someone else. The bonus about this specific idea is that it’s not a bad idea for any child to have their own “Quiet Place.” Call it whatever you will, no matter the level of “normal” or “need,” every single child loves to have things to call their own – and their own special place is just the icing on the cake.
Have multiple kids? Share the idea with them, and have them select what spot (of your pre-selected ideal areas) would be their own. Over time, you could teach them that they could go there when they are frustrated with a sibling, take time to breathe, and then go back to play. I could see that seriously cutting down on fights if they were able to pull themselves away in the heat of the moment. (And with a little training, Becca’s total shutdown zombie-walks tell me that IS possible!)
I hope this idea is helpful – let me know your thoughts!!
Butterbees and Bumbleflies 