Category: children

My children go to a pre-school in the mornings. It’s through the provincial government and is free to parents and caregivers in Ontario. I have to physically be on-site for the duration of the program (9:15-11:15AM). It’s great and the kids love to socialize in their rooms with their age-groups. We’ve been doing this since Ava was 1 (she’s now 3) and Travis was 3 weeks old (he’s now almost 15 months old). Both of my children, who are generally shy in public (who knew!), have taken to having temper tantrums (Travis) or blatantly disobeying and ignoring their teachers (insolent

Yesterday, the kids (or rather I) had a plan to “get” Daddy. This is how the gag unfolded … The night before April Fool’s Day … Ava was asleep by the time I got home from the gym so we couldn’t stuff Daddy’s shoes for him to find in the morning. The morning of April Fool’s Day … I crumpled up some older art of Ava’s and stuffed it in the toes with her there. She pulled it out and got upset so I had to post the crumpled art onto the cupboard. The afternoon of April Fool’s Day (I

I’m warming up to the idea that this year, with both a 3 and 1 year old in the house that it is high time we do some April Fool’s planning. Wikepedia defines this fun day as “April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day, although not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on fool’s errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the

They sure do have their own innocence about them – children, that is. Here is a conversation I had with Ava (3 years old) while she was colouring with markers. “Ava, are you colouring pretty pictures?” “Yes, Mommy.” (Me walking to see where she is …) “Where are you?” “In here!” “In where? Oh … what are you doing?” (as she steps away from the wall she’s been colouring on). “Do we colour on the walls?” “Oh! I forgot.” She then proceeds to walk back to her paper and continue colouring. I remained calm and got a wet-wipe, wiped down

On a regular basis I attend parenting sessions at the local Early Years Centre. I have found a lot of these sessions useful and so I thought I would summarize a few over the next few weeks ~ partly as future reference for me, and partly for the benefit of other parents and/or caregivers. Controlling the Volcano Within The morning concentrated on the adult assisting the child in managing their overwhelming emotions. The particular age of children we discussed for tools and situations were 0-6 years old. The tool that I feel was the strongest was the use of visual

Themes of the week were easy when the oldest didn’t quite “get it”. I would set themes weekly and I would order books and videos from the library and pick them up when they were in. I would have a circle time while the kids ate lunch or while waiting for parents to pick up and read one or two of the books.Now that Ava is going to be 3 this March, I think it is time to ramp up the activities we do for the themes. Upon brainstorming and Internet searching I have decided to do monthly themes with

I had a ton of ideas for my first Toddler Tuesday and wouldn’t you know it but Ava is sitting here bossing me and distracting me with “I’m talking to you, Mommy!” and “Listen to me! Stop playing on the computer and change my bum!”. When did three year olds get so smart? I’m off to change that poopie bum and if I think of what I was originally going to post I’ll do two for today.

Happy first birthday to you, my darling Travis. One year ago today you were already one hour old. This year has swiftly passed and you have become quite the little boy. You are now seriously cruising but not quite walking. You get into everything. You even pretend to chatter on the phone and are starting to say “dadadadada” and “mamamama”. You have a fantastic personality and are easy going – unless Ava tries to take a toy you really want; wow do you have a hard and fast grip and you sure tell her it’s yours by shrieking at her!

Last week Ava came home from her “school” without a diaper. I only noticed when I put her in the high chair. This is most strange as she generally gets changed at the Centre she goes to (and I certainly keep her in one as she is only partly potty trained). And so I put on a new diaper after a few confused moments. She is eating her lunch and when I return to her high chair to give her a drink, there is a wet diaper on the floor beneath her chair. What in the world?? This is also