children

My husband is an avid gardener. Let’s just put it this way … if he didn’t do it I’d either hire someone or be musing about how fast weeds grow and multiply. Anyhow, he is so passionate about it he even gets plants growing in the colder months from seed. He has the basement all set up with fancy plant growing lights and trays of seed and soil. I don’t ask – as long as it’s out of my way I’m okay. So he plants these seedlings that he’s done for months and months into the garden and within a

Another interesting article from the Jesuit prayer site my own grandmother is a member of. “Being a grandparent has many bonuses. It is more agreeable than being in charge. You shed the power of authority, and also shed the distance which it imposes. Children use their grandparents in a particular way. They can be very direct and contemporary in their comments. A friend was telling his granddaughter a story when she interrupted, ‘Fast forward, please, grandpa.’ Grandparents can be safe people to talk to. Children know they can count on affection, and need not fear retribution if they tell things

On Tuesday, June 24, 2008 we finally took the plunge and took our two little ones to the African Lion Safari (near Cambridge, Ontario) in addition to the two kiddies I baby-sit (ages 1 and 2). Thank goodness my hubby was there to help out. “African Lion Safari is a Canadian owned family business created in the name of conservation. Our manner of exhibiting animals is completely different from the traditional approach; that is, the visitor is caged in the car, and the animals roam in 2 to 20 hectare (5 to 50 acre) reserves.We first opened the gates to

Travis is doing fantastic. He is five-and-a-half months old and last time I checked he weighed 17 pounds. Ava was 21 pounds at one year old. Although I am still breastfeeding we had to start Travis on solids about a month ago because he has doubled his birth weight. Travis is very different from Ava. Ava is very strong-willed and spirited and Travis is relaxed and content (unless he has a dirty bum or is hungry or tired). He just started chatting baby talk this past week and wow does he chatter for a long time and very loudly (to

According to http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/discipline/time_out.html, “Time out is a very effective discipline technique and will work with children as young as 18-24 months old. By using this method of discipline you are giving your child time out from positive reinforcement (which includes any parental reaction such as yelling or hitting) after he misbehaves.” The parent or disciplinarian is to “prepare a time out chair, which can be a chair in any room of the house, a space on the floor, the child’s bed, etc. or any place where he is isolated from interaction with others. Use a kitchen timer to count down

My grandmother sent this to me from her Irish Jesuit prayer site. * * * * *Children are deprived not because we do not give them things, but because we do not sufficiently value what they give us. We need to be alert to welcome what children have to offer. You remember how Kahlil Gibran wrote about children,You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

My son (5 months old) adores his older sister. She walks into the room and his face lights up. When they are in their car seats (his backward and hers forward) I can see through the “spy mirror” that he lovingly gazes at her and generously laughs at her crazy screaming his name to get his attention. He even tolerates it when she sits on him and of course when she gives his tummy raspberries he heartily responds with a guttural laugh. I just hope this adoration, love, affection and closeness lasts …

I wanted to put this cute story in before I forgot about it completely. A while ago, my husband bought Raisin Bran cereal and my daughter pulled it out. I said – “Oh, that makes you poop.” She promptly took the box and locked herself in the bathroom! Later that day she insisted she go to bed with her boots on. Oh the wonders of a two-year old mind!

Egad! Our regular programming is ending this week! I thrive on our daily and weekly routines as do the children. If I do not have plans for the day then it never ends and the kids don’t like it either. I like to be up, dressed with make-up, breakfasted and out the door on our way to a set activity or play date by 8:00AM (maybe 8:30AM at the latest). I have been fairly pro-active in getting a variety of free or low-cost programs that will be offered in the summer at several locations. I’m also part of a home