Friday, May 17, 2013

Reader Weaning Questions

Weaning From Bottle:
  • mommytoisabella said...
    For some reason I am having a problem posting this question under the appropriate title and this is the only place on the blog where I can get it to work.My question is in regards to weaning from the bottle. I read the article you posted. I was wondering at what age did you wean Brayden from the bottle to a sippy cup. Isabella will be 11 months next week and I am wondering if I should start weaning her right now. Also at what age did you stop giving your little ones milk or formula before bed?
    June 26, 2008 3:25 PM
    Plowmanators said...
    mommytoisabella,Brayden had sippys starting at 6 months with water. I weaned him from BFing at 12 months. He had a bottle until he was 13ish months, then we started to wean and took about a month. It wouldn't hurt to start weaning now. See the sample schedules post to see when I did milk before bed:Sample Schedules: One Year and Up : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/03/sample-schedules-one-year-and-up.html
    June 26, 2008 11:21 PM
Posted by Valerie Plowman at 3:26 PM 1 comments Links to this post
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Medisim TempleTouch Premium Thermometer


Today you are entering to win a TempleTouch thermometer from Medisim.
The world’s only combined thermometer for both forehead & underarm measurement in a new innovative design. 
Another breakthrough in thermometers, the TempleTouch™ premium. Offering a unique design & technical capabilities, which enable parents to receive quick and accurate temperature measurement by just touching the infant's forehead or open armpit.
The temple area is a comfortable and easy measurement site, accessible when child or patient is awake or asleep.


ENTER HERE
I am trying something new that might make the whole process smoother...let me know if you have issues!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Entry Rules
  • You must enter the giveaway to have an entry.
  • You don't have to do all seven entries...for example, if you just want to follow this blog, you can just do entry one.
  • You must fulfill the rules of each entry for each entry to count. If I see the entry is not valid (did not meet entry requirements), I will disqualify your entry. Trust me, I check.
  • Entries will be accepted until 12:00 AM May 25, 2013.
  • The winner will be randomly selected through Rafflecopter.
  • The winner will be announced sometime after the winner is chosen.
  • Once the winner is announced, you will have one week to contact me or another winner will be chosen. Be sure to check back. The only thing worse than not winning is to win but not realize it in time
  • US shipping addresses only.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Older Children While Baby Naps

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I think a big challenge with a baby is what to do with the older children while baby naps--or in other words, how do you keep the older children quiet while baby is napping? This is the most challenging while baby is young and taking four naps a day.

From the time Kaitlyn was born, I had two goals I tried to marry. One is that I didn't want us to feel like we had to tip-toe around the house at nap time--I wanted us to be able to move around and talk like normal people. However, I also wanted us to respect the sleeper. When I was growing up, my mom ingrained in us to respect the sleeper and those of us who were early risers would be respectful of the non-early risers and try to be quiet. So normal sounds were okay, but there didn't need to be loudness, yelling, and running. 

So that is a nice goal, but how do you implement it? Here are some ideas.

APPROACH AS A SIGN OF LOVE
Something I didn't want to happen with any of my babies was the older children growing to resent the baby. I didn't want them being frustrated at the baby because we couldn't wake up the baby. So I taught it with the angle of "we are doing this to show respect and love." We show our baby love by respecting baby when she is sleeping. See this fore more:

Moral Training: Love


WHITE NOISE IN BABY ROOM
I didn't figure this out until McKenna came along, but white noise in the baby's room is very helpful. This helps muffle out normal noises so you don't feel paranoid to move around your house as usual. You can use noise machines, humidifiers, box fans, mp3 tracks...See

White Noise


GIVE BABY TIME TO GET USED TO IT
A brand new baby usually will sleep through anything (though there are sleep experts who say just because a newborn is asleep doesn't mean the sleep is ideal--a newborn in a disruptively noisy environment may not be getting as restorative of sleep as one in an ideal environment).

Then the baby seems to enter a phase where sleep is more sensitive. Noises will wake baby up. After some months, baby will start to sleep through those noises. The trick is keeping noises normal so baby can get used to it and staying patient through the sensitive sleep times. And some babies are more sensitive than others.

STRUCTURED ACTIVITIES
Have your structured activities happen during baby's nap. Some ways I pair these is chores/independent play in the morning nap, and learning time/reading/rest time in the afternoon. 

Independent Playtime
Occupy the older children by having independent playtime during one nap. Obviously you won't cover the entire nap, but you can get a good chunk in there. Have it in a place where the noises your child makes won't be too noisy for your baby. This is an especially helpful thing to do when you have three or more children. More than one child makes for noisy interactions. We always have independent play on Sunday mornings during Brinely's nap (our church is currently at 1 PM). This way, the kids won't get all riled up and loud and wake her up early before church. See Index: Independent Play for more.

Naps/Rest Time
Another great thing to do is to align nap/rest time with baby's afternoon nap. 

Learning Time
You can also have some learning time. Learning time is another structured activity that you can keep your child's noise levels at a reasonable level. See Index: Learning Development for ideas.

Reading
Read stories to your child during baby's nap. If your child is old enough for SSR, do that during baby's nap, too. See SSR for more on that.

Chores
You can do your chores during nap time. Just be aware of when your baby will reach the age to benefit from observing chores being done. I didn't do chores in front of Kaitlyn and I think that contributed to her not wanting to do chores at a young age. She has overcome that and now is a great worker, but in her younger years, she had no desire to work. With Brayden I had always worked with him around, and with McKenna I was careful to do cleaning in front of her. I think by 9 months, it is good to do at least some cleaning in front of your baby. Brayden was copying me by 9 months, though, so even 6-7 months might be a good idea. See Chores Index for more.

TV Time
If you do TV Time each day, do it during baby's nap. This is win/win because it keeps kids quiet and it makes it so TV time is at a time when baby won't be around to watch the TV. See television  for more.

EXERCISE
Make sure your child is getting as much exercise as is optimal for him. A child who has too much energy is going to have a harder time being appropriate indoors. You can all go for a walk or bike ride together and this will help your child to not have so much energy to burn in the house during baby's nap. See exercise  for more.

CONSEQUENCES
Once you have worked your rules and schedule for the best environment for baby's naps, have some consequences for when your children get too loud and crazy during nap time. Especially in the younger days of baby's life, you can't really fill each nap with structured activities. Baby sleeps too much to do that. Your children will have times they get loud.

We start with a reminder. Kids are kids and when kids get together, they have fun and get loud. We start playtime with a reminder about respecting sleeping people.

If/when they get loud, we tell them they are being too loud. Again, kids are kids and kids don't necessarily know what level is "too loud."

If they can't calm down, I bring in a consequence. Going back to me not wanting resentment to build up, I try to make the consequence apply very logically (which is the way I am in all consequences naturally, but I am careful to make sure in this instance that holds true). An example of a consequence for group of siblings being noisy is that they don't get to play with each other for the rest of the nap.

I also have a rule that if you can't be appropriately quiet inside, you need to play outside.

My favorite consequence came one evening when the children obviously had way too much energy built up. They could not be quiet at all--they obviously needed some exercise. So I sent them outside to run laps. We have a large yard and I told them they each needed to run three laps. They ended up enjoying it so much they each ran at least ten laps. What they needed was to burn some energy!

What have you found to be helpful in occupying older children while baby naps?

Related Posts/Blog Labels for Siblings:
Dynamics
Problems 
Room Sharing


Schedules
Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:01 AM 3 comments Links to this post
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

National Learn to Swim Day


One day at the pool, a woman told me how she didn't have her kids in swimming lessons since we didn't live near the ocean. Her children were all over the age of ten. I kind of found that funny since she was telling me this at the swimming pool...but anyway, as a child, I never took swimming lessons and it is definitely something I wish was different in my childhood. Even if you don't live by the ocean or on a lake, your child will encounter water throughout childhood, and you never know what is in your child's future as an adult. I personally view learning to swim as an important safety step in life.
source

Here is some information on national learn to swim day:

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – May 13, 2013 –  Swimways Corp., a leader in the recreational water products Swim Steps™ program that helps kids learn to swim, announced today the campaign for its second annual ‘National Learn to Swim Day,’ taking place on Saturday, May 18, 2013. Dedicated to educating parents and children about water safety, National Learn to Swim Day is an opportunity for families to learn about the importance and benefits of learning to swim before Memorial Day .

On May 18, Swimways encourages families nationwide to participate in National Learn to Swim Day in their own way, whether that means enrolling children in local swimming instruction, hosting a group swimming lesson, or discovering the tools that Swimways provides families, including its Swim Steps learnto-swim program and online water safety resources available on Swimways’ dedicated Swim Steps website

“Swimming is an activity that people all over the world enjoy come summertime,” said Monica Jones,
marketing director, Swimways. “In order to take part in all the fun the water can offer, children must be taught at an early age the fundamentals of swimming. This year we’re excited to partner with water safety expert Mario Vittone, to highlight the fundamentals of swimming and bring important swimming and water safety

Mario Vittone, former Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer and water safety expert, will work closely with Swimways to provide free swimming safety resources to families. Vittone will give expert advice on topics and challenges related to teaching children to swim on www.TeachMeToSwim.com throughout the
summer. In addition to the expert advice, families will be able to download an event guide, poster, coloring sheets and accomplishment certificates on the dedicated site.


“Whether a child is in a bathtub or at a backyard barbeque, whenever a body of water is present, the risk of drowning exists,” said Vittone. “It is important that adults are aware of the risk factors, and educate both  themselves and their children about water safety not only on National Learn to Swim Day, but throughout the year as well.” SwimWays’ Swim Steps program is a three-step program that features colorful swim-training aids specially designed to help parents teach kids to swim at home. The first step of the program is designed to introduce and comfortably support babies in the water; step two products give children the ability and freedom to explore as they develop confidence and learn to balance and paddle (two important pre-swimming skills); and step three products provide graduated support, helping kids to feel empowered and confident as they strengthen and perfect their swimming skills. Families can learn more about National Learn to Swim Day and Swim Steps by visiting www.Swimways.com and www.TeachMeToSwim.com.
Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:00 AM 2 comments Links to this post
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Brinley Summary: 39 Weeks Old

This is a summary for Brinley's 39th week; she was 38 weeks old.
Exploring the outdoors



NURSING
My sister is getting married in a month and a half in Las Vegas. We decided to just fly down and leave our kids with my in-laws. We will be gone overnight...well...this is fine and dandy until you remember the Brinley who will now take a bottle from me (yea) but not anyone else (boo). 

So I started giving her a bottle every night at her last feeding to get her very used to it. Initially, I did it after her last nursing, but she soon decided she liked that a lot. It also happened to be my week of my period, and if you remember my supply drops OR she doesn't like something it does to my milk, so she doesn't love nursing. She went to just wanting a bottle before bed and no nursing. She still is nursing three times a day and then a fourth bottle of 4-6 ounces. I am pumping a "dreamfeed." I use that milk the next day in her food or in the bottle.

SOLIDS
Our new food adventure this week was frozen peas. I just give her a few on her tray still frozen. She loves them! 

SLEEPING
Sleeping is the same and going great.

CRAWLING
She is a really good walrus crawler! Sometimes she gets on her tip-toes and holds a plank like that (seriously...that is hard). Sometimes she pulls herself along on her tip-toes. Crazy kid. I really hope this isn't a sign that she is a "do things the hard way" type. I guess it is making her super strong, though. 

She LOVES to crawl around and explore. She is so happy just crawling.

OURTDOORS
She also loves the outdoors. She doesn't mind grass at all. All of our other babies (or for sure Brayden and Kaitlyn...I can't remember McKenna for sure) were a bit freaked out by grass initially. Brinley doesn't mind at all.

It is nice she loves the outdoors since she gets to go to about four soccer games a week :). The weather has been much nicer for that.

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt). Indepenedent Playtime happens in this block.
10:15--nap
12:45--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, cereal)
2:30--nap
5:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, cereal, finger foods) 
7:30--feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00.

Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:00 AM 3 comments Links to this post
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Monday, May 13, 2013

Getting Children Actively Engaged in Household Responsibilities

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If you lived on a Western farm in the early 1900s, your child would be in charge of gathering the eggs at 18 months old. Can you imagine trusting your 18 month old to that task! In order to survive, literally, the family all had to pitch in to help out.

If a child in the early 1900s could help around the farm, surely our children today can help around the house. Why would we want our children to help around the house? For one, it helps teach them how to do these tasks so when they move out, they will be able to do these things, too. Another reason is that it is good for people to work--no matter how old they are. Work teaches you a lot and keeps you grounded to real life. 

And another reason is to help ease the burden on one person (or just the parents). Children can and should help keep the function of the house moving smoothly. As your children get older, life gets busier. It gets harder to stay on top of all of those chores. You need help. 

So how do you get your child involved in chores around the house? How do you get them actively engaged in the household responsibilities? There is no shortage of advice out there on this topic. Many, many books have been written on this. My favorite book that I have read that addresses this at all is The Parenting Breakthrough by Merilee Boyack. See Book Review: The Parenting Breakthrough: http://www.babywisemom.com/2010/04/book-review-parenting-breakthrough.html.

Because of the books that abound on this topic, my guess is people find it hard to establish this in their home. One day at the store last summer, Brayden told me we needed more bathroom cleaner. We sat looking at the cleaners, deciding what to get, when a woman who had teenage boys approached me. "Does he really clean?!?" she asked me. I was a bit startled by the question and replied, "yes." She was amazed that he knew the state of our cleaning supplies. She told me she wished she could get her sons to help clean at home.

Let me assure you, if doing chores is a normal part of life at your house, your child will participate.  That doesn't mean every child is easy to keep going--just like some are resistant to naps or independent play, some will be resistant to cleaning time. Kaitlyn (6) has been a hard one to get motivated in the cleaning department, but lots of encouragement and perseverance has brought her to a place where she is usually quite happy to help out. She used to hide with a book when it came time for cleaning time (even at preschool!), and now she is a great helper, including at school.

There are a lot of ways to get kids helping. Here is how it looks at our house. 

STAY CONSISTENT
Just like sleep and independent play, a key to success with chores is to stay consistent. Make it part of daily life. It is as normal as eating, sleeping, and breathing. we definitely have our times when we "fall off the wagon" so to speak. Things get busy, our routine changes, etc. These times will likely come, and when they do, just get back up and work toward consistency again.

START WHEN YOUNG 
If an 18 month old can gather eggs for food, an 18 month old can certainly help clean up the mess she just made. Have your child help as she is able. See Creating a "Good Helper".

HAVE ROUTINE
This goes along with your consistency  You need to have a routine. Have a time of day that chores happen--a point when your child will know "time for chores." See Working Chores Into Your Day

HELP WITH MY DAILY CHORE
It is easy to think, yes, I will have my kids help with chores. It is often pretty easy to have them help clean up after themselves. The next step is to have them help you with your chores. You will find your child is very interested in doing this if she has seen you do chores. Children want to emulate their parents, so if they see  you cleaning, they will want to join you from a young age. 

You have to expect that the chore they help with will not be as efficient as when you do it. Remember your goals here; it is okay if that end table isn't perfectly dusted after your 3 year old is done with it. The point is not perfection, the point is teaching skills and habits.

A tricky thing for me with this has been as Brayden went to all day school, how do I have him contribute without me having to wait for him to be home from school to do the chore. The best for us is to figure out some portion he can do on his own before school starts. So on laundry day, he and I sort laundry in the morning, Kaitlyn folds socks when she gets home from school, and McKennna helps me throughout the day.

See these posts for more on your goals of cleaning:

EVERYONE CLEANS
In the context of having more than one child, it is easy for you to have the children clean up their own mess and what they got out. I think this gets messy very quickly. What if both children played with something? What if one child got the toys out and another then played with it? What if they both played, but it was 70 percent by one and 30 percent by the other?

We have always done "everyone cleans" at our house. Even if the person didn't ever touch the toy, he might end up being the only one to clean it up. We all help clean. This is a reality of life. Parents don't get to say "I didn't play with that! I am not cleaning it up!" 

Each evening, we pick up the floor where the kids primarily play. We just all pitch in and help and it goes by quickly.

HAVE A CHORE WHEEL
I love my chore wheel. I put things on there that typically need to be done around dinner time. After we eat, we each do our chore and get things put back together on the main floor. It is fun to all be working together. 

MIX THINGS UP
On the chore wheel, I need to change up the exact chores on there after a couple of rotations. This keeps things fresh and interesting.

You might also need to mix up how you present chores. You can draw from a jar (Chore Jar), do Chore Cards, do chore charts (see Pinteresting Fridays: Chore Charts)... You want to keep work fun (see Making Work Fun).

OFFER EXTRA CHORES FOR BONUS
Once your children are old enough to want "things," you can offer extra chores for money. My kids have been about 5 when this interest in money happened so far. I pull from my deep cleaning list and they can do chores for money. We decide how much a chore is worth before they start. I have a rule that regular chores need to be done before they can do money chores, otherwise I think there is a good chance regular chores would be skipped and money chores would be focused on. 

Related Posts/Blog Labels:
Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:00 AM 6 comments Links to this post
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Albion Fit WINNER!

The winner for the Albion Fit gift card is...

Lauren Harmon said...
I love this swimsuit I pinned on pinterest! :)

http://pinterest.com/pin/223491200230907887/

Please email me at valplowman@gmail.com to claim your prize. You have one week or another winner will be chosen. Congrats!
Posted by Valerie Plowman at 9:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Friday, May 10, 2013

LDS Temple Passport App {Giveaway!}


Today's giveaway is for the LDS Tepmple Passport App. See the website here: http://ldstemplepassportapp.com/ 

The LDS Temple Passport App:
  • Collect Temple Passport Stamps for Current and Previous Visits
  • Keep Track of Temple Attendance
  • Journal Your Temple Visit
  • Access Temple Schedule
  • Get Directions to a Temple
  • Share Your Visit With Social Media
  • Take and Upload Pictures
  • Learn Cool Temple Facts, and more
Whenever I go to a temple, I like to get the little pamphlet temple schedule they have and save it so I remember I went to that temple and the year. This app is cool because you can track that in your phone. I also like the directions to temples option for when you are out of town; I always like to visit a nearby temple when we travel.

Today you have a chance to win your own app! This is for Apple.

For Your First Entry: 
Become a follower of this blog. Then leave a comment. If you are already a follower (the thing where your cute face pops up with all the other cute faces of people following), comment telling me so.

Sample Entry
I am a follower!


For Your Second Entry:
Like LDS Temple Passport App on Facebook. Then comment saying you did so.

Sample Entry
Liked on Facebook!

For Your Third Entry:
Go to their website {http://ldstemplepassportapp.com/}. Pin the picture on the main page onto one of your boards on Pinterest (they make it super easy--roll over the picture and there is a "pin" button for you). Once you have done so, comment with a link to that pin.

Sample Entry
I pinned it! INSERT LINK HERE  


For Your Fourth Entry:
Follow me on Twitter. Comment saying you do--include your twitter ID.

Sample Entry
I follow! @valplowman


For Your Fifth Entry:
Like Chronicles of a Babywise Mom on Facebook. Already do? Tell me so. Comment saying you like it.

Sample Entry
I like Chronicles of a Babywise Mom on Facebook! 


For Your Sixth Entry:
Follow them on Twitter. Then comment saying you did so. Include your twitter ID.

Sample Entry
Following on Twitter! @valplowman


For Your Seventh Entry:
Blog, update status, or tweet about this giveaway. Then comment saying you did so. Include the method you used.

Sample Entry
I tweeted! @valplowman


Entry Rules
  • You must leave a comment in order to have an entry.
  • You must leave a separate comment for each entry. This is not so I can get lots of comments--it is because it makes it a million times easier to choose a winner. It takes less time, and less time is good. Plus, it makes sure I don't miss an entry.
  • You don't have to do all seven entries...for example, if you just want to follow this blog, you can just do entry one.
  • One entry per comment.
  • Up to seven entries per person.
  • You must fulfill the rules of each entry for each entry to count. If I see the entry is not valid (did not meet entry requirements), I will disqualify your entry. Trust me, I check.
  • Entries will be accepted until I choose the winner May 17, 2013.
  • The winner will be randomly selected at random.org
  • The winner will be announced May 17 or 18, 2013.
  • If you would like, you can add your email address to your entry. If you are the winner, I will email you to let you know. You do not need to add your email address in order to win. I understand not everyone wants to share their email addresses with the world. I will announce the winner on the blog, so you can check the blog Friday to find out if you won.
  • Once the winner is announced, you will have one week to contact me or another winner will be chosen. Be sure to check back. The only thing worse than not winning is to win but not realize it in time





Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:00 AM 5 comments Links to this post
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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Surviving Sundays {Guest Post}


Attending church services on a regular basis is very important to my family. However, keeping my children on their schedules is also a top priority to our family! We knew when we decided to follow Babywise techniques that we would have to make some sacrifices but that attending worship wasn't something we would sacrifice.

I now have a four year old and a sixteen month old and thought I'd share some of our tips for handling children at different stages during worship service. We personally try to avoid taking our kids to the nursery (and our church doesn't have a separate worship service specifically for children either) as we feel it's important for them to be in services with us. Their little minds are soaking in more than we even can realize and we want to train them to behave during services and teach them how to participate in services as well!

Infant:
  • Our church services are from 10:30-11:30 so when our babies are little it's usually feeding time. I pump prior to services and bring a bottle to church. I'm just personally not comfortable nursing in public and don't want to leave services to go nurse in a private setting either so pumping a bottle works great. Often it's the only time my baby will get a bottle during the week so it also helps keep them used to bottle feeding. 
  • Since we would have to leave for church during nap time my little ones would often fall asleep in the car seat on the way and we would just bring in the infant car seat to services to let them continue sleeping. 
  • Both of my children were slow drinkers so they would typically eat close to the entire hour. After they finished we'd go change their diaper and then try to keep them quiet for the remainder of services.
Older Infant:
  • Once our kids are on the 4 hour schedule it's a little trickier because we have to leave for church right in the middle of nap-time. We have found that it's best to wake them up earlier on Sunday mornings (we typically wake them up at 7:10 but on Sunday's we wake them up at 6:45). That way we can put them down for their morning nap extra early as well (Rather than them going down at 9 like usual we put them down as early as 8:10). We try to have their awake time that morning very active to help wear them out and make them tired enough to sleep that early for nap. Usually it works out where they get a 45-60 min nap prior to us having to leave for church services so they aren't completely exhausted for the entire time!
  • Since we wake them up early and feed them early for breakfast, it also allows me to push their lunch earlier too and I will do the same pump a bottle thing to feed during church services.
  • Once they are eating solid food it is a little tricky, with our son my husband would take him out of services to go feed him jarred baby food. With my daughter, we didn't stress as much as we did with our son (typical second child, right?). I knew she didn't have to have solids at every mealtime and that solid food was more about learning than it was about nutrition at that age so I just skipped solids for that one feeding time a week.
Toddler:
  • Once I wean my children from nursing I push their lunch time back to noonish rather than right after their morning naps. This means that they no longer have a meal time during church services. I will bring each child a sippy cup (even the 4 year old!) of water and a snack cup with simple, unmessy type foods (raisins, goldfish, cereal, etc). Then we rush home to eat lunch as soon as services let out.
  • Since a toddler no longer has a morning nap, we also no longer have to deal with working around it so Sunday mornings get easier!
  • Keeping a toddler still and quiet during services is a challenge. I try to have them run around a lot before services start. This is a great chance to visit with others in the congregation since we have to rush out right after!
  • Since a toddler cannot yet whisper I work hard at keeping them quiet by keeping them engaged with lots and lots of toys and a variety of things to keep their interest. I try not to be overly concerned with "baby talk." Our preacher has stressed many times that he loves hearing the children during services b/c it means he knows they are there and that's important! I will repeat anything they say in a whisper and put my finger to their lips to remind them to be quiet. Usually around 18 months they are able to whisper and understand the need to be quiet during that time!
  • If the toddler gets too loud one of us will take them out and sit with them in another area of the church where we can hear what's going on but they can't disrupt others. Our church has a "training" area set up just for this purpose!
Older Toddler:
  • Training becomes very important at this stage. Once our children have the ability to whisper and we know for sure that they understand what is expected of them during services, we will begin disciplining for misbehavior.
  • We give a few warnings and bring along our spank stick (a paint stick) from home to use as a rod of correction. If they make a poor choice that requires correction we will take them out of services, discipline, comfort, then bring them back in.
Preschooler:
  • At this stage we expect more out of our children. Our son is four and we still allow him to play with toys, color, eat snacks etc. But we don't allow him to lay down during services and expect him to stop and pray when prayer is taking place, stand and pay attention during the songs, and be respectful during other aspects of worship. He is in charge of giving our tithing in the collection plate and usually sits and listens during the lesson as well. 
I bring both a diaper bag and a book bag to church on Sundays. Our son carries the book bag with his things in it and I keep our daughters things (and the snack stuff) in my diaper bag. Here are the things I typically include:

For the younger child (infant age) I'll bring soft toys and chew toys. Once at the toddler age our daughter pretty much wants everything our son has so I've bought two of most of our church things. I'm big on sharing but during church services is not the time to train in that area! Each of them have a little Bible, as well as multiple "look and find" type books, magnadoodles are awesome with no mess concerns! I also ADORE our quiet book! I found it on Amazon as I'm not craft enough to make it myself :)
Little People wheelie cars are wonderful as their wheels don't make any noises and they are age appropriate even for a toddler. I have also found many great sensory type games (nuts and bolts, people that stack together, and yarn with beads to lace) and even great soft puzzles at our local dollar store! I bring a clipboard and use Bible coloring books (again, a dollar store find) and our son has enjoyed drawing and coloring since he was close to two years old. My favorite church bag item is a soft picture book that I filled with photos of our family. Both of our kids love looking through it!
 For the snack cups I love these by Munchkin!



As a parent with young children church services can sometimes feel like you're in "survival" mode. I recently joked with our preacher that I have no clue what he preaches on most of the time. It can be tough, even with well-behaved children, to get through it. There have been times I have thought "why do we bother?" but then I am reminded that it's all worth it. When our son asks questions during the lesson that make me realize he's paying attention. When the elderly members at our congregation light up with pure joy when seeing our daughter walking down the aisles after services. When we see our children mature in their prayer life and their relationships with the Lord. Every phase in life has it's own struggles and challenges and I know we may not be able to be as active in our church family as we'd like to be during this portion in our lives. However, we always strive to put God first in all things and I'm so thankful that we are instilling that same value into our children from birth! It may be tough at times, but it's always worth it!!!
Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:00 AM 2 comments Links to this post
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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

McKenna Summary: 4 Years and 1 Month

"They" say that at birthdays and half birthdays, children become challenging. Something comes up, usually in a discipline area. For McKenna, this month she really started to push limits. She tried just about each rule to see if it was still enforced. I have a phrase I use with McKenna, "No means no." I use this when she argues when I have said now (or when she simply continues doing something when I have said no). At least "no means no" usually stops her in her tracks.

Happily, by the end of the month, she seemed to be over her intense need to test and push the limits around her. 

EATING
Eating was more normal this month.

SLEEPING
Sleeping is going on as it has been.

PLAYTIME
McKenna has been doing really well with watching the clock for independent play. When I give her the time she can get out, she stays put. 

SWIMMING
Remember how she was scared to swim and then swam for Brinley? After that, Kaitlyn spent a lot of time talking with McKenna and convinced her to swim with her teacher. I had also purchased a new swimming suit for her, in her favorite color of orange, but told her she needed to swim with teacher if she wore it. She did it! Hopefully the trend continues.

MAJOR FIT
At church one day, McKenna decided she wanted the orange pen that Kaitlyn had (remember how that is her favorite color?). We told her she couldn't just demand what she wants. She was upset and wouldn't stop insisting she get the orange pen. She was being quiet enough the whole congregation couldn't hear  her, but loud enough the people right around us could.

I told her if she didn't stop, she would go in the hall. The hall is not a fun place for our kids. They have to sit on my lap and do nothing. She didn't want to do that, but not enough to stop herself from demanding the orange pen.

I took her out in the hall and she lost it. She started yelling that she didn't want to go in the hall and I had to carry her out of the chapel. Nice. We sat in the hall for a few minutes until she calmed down. Then I told her she needed to be happy before we went back in. I told her a frown didn't look good with her dress; a smile matched much better. That worked! HA! She walked back in the chapel beaming. It had only been a few minutes, too. It must have been amusing for others to see her leave yelling and come back a few minutes later with a smile. 

OUR SCHEDULE

8:30--Wake up and eat breakfast. Get ready. She then can play with siblings. 
9:30-- Chores then play with Brinley.
10:30--Independent Playtime
11:30--Time with Mommy
12:00--Lunch
1:00--Play with Kaitlyn. Learning activities.
4:30---TV Time/Computer time 
5:30--Dinner
6:00--Family Activities
7:00--Get ready for bed
8:00--Bedtime 

Posted by Valerie Plowman at 10:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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