Big Words and Little Mouths

Back around Christmas time, my chosen son's father was building a super secret gift for his wife (a shoe shelf!).  I'm assuming that chosen son was around while the piece was being built because he was suddenly taking the hammer from the Little Tykes tool station, banging the wall and sporadically shouting, "Dammit!!"

Mom and I worked hard at eradicating this word from his vocabulary.  However, children being the lovely little sponges of learning that they are, Adam quickly picked up on this fascinating expression and began using it himself.  He'd say things like "Stop saying 'dammit,' dammit!" or "Dammit, (child's name) said 'dammit' again!"

So, while I worked hard at ridding it from my chosen son's vocabulary, I worked just as diligently at wiping it from Adam's.  It seemed to work well, I don't recall them saying it much past mid-January.

It must be understood, however, that we are dealing with children...more specifically, we are dealing with my Adam - a boy who shines a new light on the antics of childhood.  We'd been dammit-free for a little over a month when today, Adam got upset that I wouldn't allow him to munch on chocolate covered almonds for supper.

That's right, I am an evil, horrible mother who doesn't let her kids eat chocolate for supper.

Obviously enraged by the deprivation of all things chocolate, Adam runs a loop through my kitchen and living room screaming in frustration.  He stops dead in front of me and with tears in his eyes shouts, "You Dammit!!"


It was so wrong of me to do, but I laughed.  I laughed until I cried.  This just made him even more angry, but I couldn't help it.  I laughed and laughed and laughed.

In the end, we talked about the whole issue and how that's not a word that nice people should say...then we ended up having popcorn for dinner.

What?  Is popcorn not a complete meal?

Please Advise my Fellow Daycare Providers

I am incredibly lucky to have absolutely wonderful daycare parents.  They are thoughtful, understanding and respectful.  What more could I ask for?  It has taken me 5 years to find families that fit well with me and my philosophies...but I have achieved just that.

Sadly, that's a rare case.  I have 2 friends right now who are also daycare/dayhome providers who aren't so lucky.  Friend #1, let's call her Tracy, has parents who are disrespectful.  They send their children to her care when they are ill -- I know that parents have a hard time taking the time off of work, but when you send your kid to your providers house sick, every other person in that house is exposed!  It's horrible!  The sickness spreads from child a to child b...then to the provider's child or the husband or the provider...the next thing you know even the cat is sick and all because the parent brought their kid in when they should have stayed at home.  

Tracy also has an issue with a parent who says her child is potty trained.  Tracy has yet to see the child use the toilet (or potty) in her home and is constantly cleaning up wet spots all over the place (even her brand new couch!!)  I don't even know what to say about this.  I've just gone through the potty training phase with Adam and my own chosen son -- sure they still have the occasional accident, but not to the point that I'm stuck with a home drenched in urine.

My other friend, who we'll call Elaine has parents who just walk all over her.  "Hey, would  you mind keeping my 18 month old baby awake all day today so he sleeps on the drive home?" -- do you think about what effect this will have on the other children in the home?  What about poor Elaine who works a 12 hour day with no break, and now you're asking her to keep a toddler awake all day long?  She also has issues with parents being late (like hours late), or "forgetting" things like shoes or jackets.  

I just don't understand.

Granted, I have never been the parent who's bringing their child to a dayhome, but still, I would certainly hope that I'd treat the person who is essentially raising my child during the day with a little respect.  Would these parents accept it if someone treated them this way?  I don't think so!  Do I just live in a fairy tale world where people "do unto others..."

What are your thoughts??  What advice would you give these providers (either as a parent to a provider, or as provider to provider).

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

I'm sure that I've mentioned before my love for all things Seuss.  I love his stories, I love his art.  I love the messages that many of his stories send, and I love, love, love that his writing still inspires young readers today.  Dr. Seuss books are fun, engaging and (in my untrained and personal opinion) help children learn to read without any effort.

Since today is his birthday (and it's almost over, yikes!), the kids and I decided to have a Dr. Seuss Day.  We started off by reading some of his books: my personal favorite is The Cat in the Hat, but we didn't leave out One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish or Fox in Socks (another one of my favorites!).  We played a Cat in the Hat inspired game called Cat in the Hat I Can Do That!- which is so cool and so much fun.  We had the kids as young as 2 and as old as 33 playing and laughing and winning (we all won, of course!)

However, the day just wouldn't have been complete without our Green Eggs and Ham - this is one of the first books I ever remember reading.  One magical day my own daycare provider was flipping through those pages saying "I am Sam.  Sam I am" and it just clicked.  A whole new world had opened up for me and I was hooked on books.

Anyhow - I digress.  We read (a very worn and tattered version) of the Green Eggs and Ham and then got down to the dirty business of making and eating our own green eggs and ham.  Well...green eggs and turkey ham.

We started off with eggs...separated the yolks from the whites....you'll also need green food coloring (my picture is crooked, and I'm too darn lazy to fix it....live with it peeps!)

Then, I added a few (4-5) drops of food coloring to the whites and mixed it up. (oops, another upside-down pic!)

I put the green whites into the pan, and then topped them with the yolks.

While the eggs were cooking, my daughter helped to paint the (turkey) ham...just a little food coloring and water (a few teaspoons).

Once it was all together, we had us a "Green Eggs and Ham" meal!!

Now....to think on how to make something equally cool tomorrow.....