Life with Toddlers

No, I don't have toddlers of my own but I babysit two of them. Above is a photo of Miss H. Isn't she sweet? She's 22 months old and busy as all get out. I also watch Miss L who is 24 months old & is even busier at times. When the two of them are here on the same day it's a "mine" fest all day long. Such fun. ;-)

But today Miss H reminded me of the importance of always carrying a diaper bag with young children. 

We began her day here (at about 7:30am) with a diaper malfunction of magnificent proportions. Seriously. I don't think I've ever seen a blow out that bad. It required me to wash the quilt on my bed, the small blanket I use as a changing bad (thankfully or my quilt would have fared far worse), her shorts, plus Miss H herself!

I put on the change of pants in her diaper bag. Then we all finished getting ready for the day & headed out to do my grocery shopping & pick up a new home for our baby chicks. I threw one diaper in my purse - one diaper. I thought we'd be home in a couple of hours so why bother with the whole big diaper bag anyway.

I started towards town. I stopped at the small grocery store on the way to grab a soda. Traffic was stopped (which is unusual and yes, there were only two cars ahead of me but trust me - out here - that is a traffic jam). I have no idea where they are going but for the last two days there have been tractor trailer trucks using this major route to transport over sized, gigantic tubes. It requires a state trooper vehicle before and after each truck & it was taking up both lanes of traffic. Nope, I was not going to follow that the 30 minute drive in to the store so I took "the scenic route" which probably added some time but at least I was moving. And I'll even admit to getting to the light at the store's entrance to find the trucks waiting at the light.

We arrived at the grocery store & I had the boys get out & grab my returnable bottles (I use these as coupons at the store) plus my fabric bags. I grabbed Miss H who was wet through her pants & on her shirt. Diaper malfunction #2.

Okay, bottles & boys back in the truck. Bags back in there. Diaper change for Miss H. minus the pants. I threw an extra sweatshirt I had in the truck on to the car seat so she wouldn't have to sit on the wet spot. We all got buckled back in & I headed out to the thrift store. I came very close to just going to Wal-Mart (which is in the same parking lot as the grocery store) to get her something to wear but remembered there was a thrift store close by & I hadn't been yet. Surely they would have some something for a toddler girl to wear that would be cheaper than something new at Wal-Mart. And they did. The dress she is wearing in the photo above cost me all of $2.25. Bargain.

We did eventually finish our grocery shopping. I even manged to come in under budget there. I checked out the local Chapter 11 store (which closed earlier this year & is now reopened & much nicer looking inside) where I got a new tub for the chick's home plus pine litter for it. Each boy also got a pair of sunglasses ($0.99 each) & Miss H came out with a Candyland coloring book. All in all a better ending to a stinky morning. 

Tot Time Fun

I'm been working on adding more things for J to do when we have school. I did a workshop last year for my mini-homeschooling conference about adding in games & fun during the day for your children. One thing I discussed were activity bags. I even made up samples & handed them out to everyone. Anyone attending my workshop walked out with two toddler activity bags, some game bags for older kids, some craft kits, plus a CD full of file folder games to print out & make.

One of the samples I had put together was called "Snip 'N Cut". It was part of a free sampler I had received through CurrClick I think. The items included in the bag were about a dozen one inch strips of construction paper, a pair of safety scissors, and a paper bowl. The child is to cut the strips of paper in to small bits making sure they land in the bowl.

J loved it. He is getting better & better with his cutting skills & really enjoys using his scissors. This was a fun activity for him. He did 2-3 strips before he was done.

I also had both girls today so I was switching them up with us. Miss L had some table time with us & she had fun playing with the Busy Bugs. I think the texture always throws her & she has fun putting them & taking them out of the nut can.

Something new that I added today was stickers. Oh.my.goodness! It was a blast watching her with these. It took her about five minutes to figure out how to put them on the paper and they are teeny-tiny ones. I was working with the boys & could just hand her one. One side of the paper was practice (i.e. I helped place some) but after a few minutes, she had it down & put about a dozen on all by herself.

She also loves to color but will eat the crayons so twist-ups work great. I gave her a crayon & she had fun adding green to her sticker page.

In the afternoon, I was attempting to snap a photo of both girls together. For some reason, they love sitting on the dog bed. I have no idea why. They will plop right down & sit & play and if one girl is there - watch out - because the other will join her quickly. They are so very competitive!

I kept trying to snap the photo, but one of them would always get up & move. Finally, I plopped Miss L down & told her to "stay!" and snapped a quick photo but it really doesn't show how they usually do this. They literally almost sit on top of each other. In fact, Miss H was trying to sit on Miss L & I had to move her.

Then a few minutes later I look over and saw this....

She's sitting all nice & pretty for her picture. Say "cheese!"

Busy Boxes

Yesterday marked the start of our homeschool for the year. This year I have two toddlers in the house. I haven't had those in a while. I knew I should have a plan in place to help keep them busy & entertained otherwise it would be a difficult year so I started putting together some toddler "busy boxes."

I went to Wal-Mart on Sunday & picked up some clear plastic shoe boxes & one other larger tote. I also bought some large alphabet blocks (very cute!), and some inexpensive measuring cups & plastic mixing spoons. I had a large list of ideas of boxes to put together.

• Blocks (check - just got them & they even came with a handy little storage bag)
• Large duplos
• Real phone (check - dug it out of the yard sale items)
• mixing bowls/spoons/cups (check)
• widgets (check - although I need to go dig out the last couple to complete the set)
• margarine containers & lids (will continue to add to & they'll go in the "kitchen" box)
• tape & paper
• toddler train (made out of shoe boxes)
• dolls (like I have a ton of those around - ha!)
• bean bags (plan to make from odd socks & beans & yes, I will be sure they are tightly secured)
• contact paper
• texture touch items
• sensory bottles
• shakers
• Velcro box

Now, I may not do ALL of these items & I may add to them. I also was blessed by my older sister yesterday who came for a visit. I mentioned what I had bought at Wal-Mart & she showed up with a large tote full of appropriate toys - include a small tub of Duplos. I know I have them - somewhere - so this saved me time in looking for mine. She also brought some more toy phones (which were a HUGE hit today), a Lamaze brand soft stacking ring & miscellaneous other baby toys.

I also pulled out - okay for some reason J did this today but it was perfect - the Aquadoodle pad we have. The girls LOVED it as evidenced below.

They were also thrilled when I pulled out the "cooking" box. It had two small plastic containers, the measuring cups, measuring spoons, & mixing spoons. Miss L even dumped a bowl & spoon in to the playpen for Miss H to play with. I think it was an accident but I'll take it.

I did not "de-pants" Miss H - she did that ALL by herself! She's such a big girl & yes, I did put a different pair on shortly after this. ;-)

The hardest part of today was not having both girls while we did school this morning. It wasn't that I slept in a bit later than I wanted so I missed starting my day the way I wanted to. It wasn't even doing preschool with J before tackling the rest of the school day with the two older boys. No, all that was easy. The hard part?? It was getting J & N to let the girls play with all the new toys!!! Shheessh! I had to lay down the law with them. The new rules are:

• These toys are for the babies only!
• They are only for school time!
• They are NOT to disappear in to their rooms with them as I know they will be gone forever.
• They can only play with them with my permission.

We'll see how long it lasts. The bins are stacked in my hallway so I can monitor their use both with the boys and the babies. Tomorrow I'm going to try Plan B & we'll see how it goes. I'll be sure to post.

Of course, lunch around here is ALWAYS highly anticipated. I'll leave you to check out this grin....