Monkey School: Snowman

Monkey School was all about Snowmen today.  I started out by talking about shapes and I had the kids find different objects of each shape by digging through the sensory bin.  Then I put the shapes together to make a snowman.  We also read Snowman at Night.  

Next we played with "snow" (shaving cream).  They loved this. 

For snack we frosted rice cakes and made snowman faces.

 And for art, we made paper plate Snowmen.

Dinosaurs: The Paleontologist Edition.

I know most 2 year olds don't know what a Paleontologist is, heck, most can't even say Paleontologist but I am determined to raise kids who are interested in science and that requires early exposure.  So today in Monkey School we pretended to be Paleontologists.

First we went on a skeleton hunt around the room and ended up putting together a stegosaurus skeleton.

Then we carefully uncovered dinosaur bones hidden in the beans.

 Next we dug through mud (pudding) to find the dinosaurs (dino shaped fruit snacks).

And finally, we created volcanoes (baking soda and vinegar).  The kids had a great time and so did I.

In which my head explodes . . .

I know Halloween was a month ago but I've got to get this off my chest.  Why, oh why are Halloween Costumes so sexist?  I was so angry as walked up and down the clearance costume aisles of Target that I was literally sick to my stomach and shaking.  What sort of message is Target trying to send to little girls?  Now I am not so extreme that I won't admit that some costumes are (for the most part) gender specific.  I get that little girls want to be Princesses and that little boys probably don't.  I don't fault costume companies for that.  What I do take issue with is the designs of costumes that should be much more gender neutral.

Take "Cowboy" for example.  The boy costume is cute and functional, but what in the heck is up with the fringed mini-skirt?  I'm sure that'll be great for riding horses.  And it is not just the costumes.  The boy costume is called, "Boy Cowboy Costume"  but the girl gets to be a "Cowgirl Diva".  Just what I want for my 4 year old.  

And then there were the pirate costumes.  Both my daughter and son love pirates.  Once again, the boy costume was very cute.  Lil' Buddy could be a "Pirate King" but Miss M . . . she could be a "Pirate Cutie" at best and a Pirate . . . Hooker(?) at worst.  

These costumes make my head explode.  And the examples were endless.  Little girls should not be sexy.   Please don't force my little girl to pick between a Cutie and a Diva.  She is so much more than that.  And my son needs to know that girls are more than that.  Granted, it is my job to teach them but Target (and every other retailer of Halloween costumes) is making my job that much harder.

Of course, the only reason they carry costumes like that is because people buy them.  So fellow citizens of the world: Do Not Support This.  Girls are so much more than Divas, Cuties and Princesses.   

Emotive.

Okay, I know I titled this feature Random Music that Makes Me Happy but the truth is not all music that I like makes me happy.  So I've changed it to RMIL (Random Music I like).  Today's RMIL is really more of an album.  now, I know that I am pretty much the only person in the world who loved this album and I get why people didn't like it (it's all remakes and not typical of the band) but I think Emotive by A Perfect Circle is brilliant.  It's one of those albums where the songs sound better if you listen to the entire album rather than the individual songs.  For some reason, this impresses me.    Just as a heads up, the album is mostly remakes of old peace songs.



And here is the video of one of the few original songs on the album.  This song was so perfect for the movie Constantine.  Plus, he co-wrote it with Trent Reznor.  Need I say more?  Speaking of things that most people hate, and I love--Constantine is actually a really good movie.  Seriously.  It is my favorite Keanu Reeves roll (even better than Matrix) and I love the religious themes.  I will be the first to admit that Keanu Reeves just plays different iterations of Ted but I'm telling you, Demon Hunting Ted is the best Ted.  Way better than surfer Ted or Shakespeare Ted or (Groan) RomCom Ted.

Monkey School: Thanksgiving

• Book:  Thanksgiving is For Giving Thanks.  (not the best thanksgiving book for 2 year olds but the one I had.  

• Song:  I'm a little Turkey (I'm a little Teapot)
• I'm a little turkey
• Fluffy and brown (rub tummy)
• My wings flip-flop
• When I turn around (flap arms and turn around)
• I have lots of feathers,
• On my back (bend down and wave hands over back)
• And a big orange beak 
• that goes click clack (clap hands)
• Gobble Gobble (tickle kids)

• Motor:  Turkey Hunt/Color Match.  
• I hid turkeys around the room and had the kids hunt for them with toilet roll binoculars



Once the kids found the turkeys they put them in their home.



• Art:  Leaf Turkeys  



These turned out so cute.  



• Snack:  Oreo, Candy Corn and Hershey Kiss Turkeys.  









Online inspriations:  

http://www.perfectlypreschool.com/Preschool-Lesson-Plans/Thanksgiving/index.php

http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/2010/11/t-is-for-thanksgiving.html

You're Here.

Two weeks ago, I started taking a 5:45AM spin class. I love the productive feeling of getting a workout in before my kids wake up.  Unfortunately, the hour nap I end up taking later in the day undermines the overall productive value but it is probably still good for my health.

Now, when you show up at spin class that early, the temptation is (at least for me) to take it a little easy.  After all, just showing up is impressive and any exercise is better than nothing.  All that is true and yet at the second class the instructor yelled encouragement that changed my perspective.  

"You're here. Might as well make it worth it."  

I realized she was right.  Why make all the effort to pull my tired self out of bed, make my husband go later to work (yes he usually leaves the house around 6am) and then coast once I was there?  I have written before about my tendency to cut myself too much slack and this was another prime example.  But what really struck me is that I was already there.  I was going to spend 45 minutes at spin class whether or not I pushed myself.  so why not make it worth it?  Why not indeed.

This is my new motto.  When I took my kids to the park, I sat down on the bench, glad for any break from their constant whining and clinging.  but then I thought, you're here.  Might as well make it worth it.  So I got up and started playing tag with my kids.  We had the best time at the park yet. The kids still talk about playing "trap-out" with mom.  

At church, I was zoning out during the primary songs (I'm in primary now) and then . . . you're here.  Might as well make it worth it.  So I started singing and participating.  The lesson (of course) made me mad but I was engaged in what was going on around me and it was a better Sunday than usual.  

Anyway the motto helped me, I thought it might help you.


You're here.  Might as well make it worth it.  

me, just after my first triathlon post having kids.  

The Glass Castle

People have been trying to get me to read the Glass Castle for years.  I didn't have any interest.  It sounded too depressing.  In my opinion, life has enough angst.  I like my books to be angst free.  A girl growing up with an alcoholic dad and a crazy mom, struggling to find food just didn't seem like a book I'd enjoy.  But, as luck would have it,  it was the first book chosen for my new book club.  I dragged my feet so much that I didn't finish it in time for book club but I read it the next day.  And you know what?  I actually liked it.  Even though the topic was disturbing it was told in such a matter-of-fact way that it didn't seem disturbing.  I was impressed that the author told her story without any sense of self-pity or regret.  It reminded me of something a young man in my neighborhood said after his dad died.  He said "people always try to assign meaning to things, be it good or bad.  but the truth is, somethings just are."  And that's what I liked about the book.  Walls didn't make judgement on her childhood or her parents, she just told her story.  She just told what was.  And she did it with love and compassion for all the members of her family.

We are All Innocent.

Introducing a new feature called Random Music that Makes Me Happy.



I love the rhymes in this song and for some reason, it just makes me want to push harder and be a better person.  It is a great song to run too.

Monkey School

My sister keeps requesting that I do a blog post about some of my preschool ideas.  I have been hesitant to do this because of all the other AWESOME homeschooling type blogs out there.  Blogs with much more polished ideas and projects.  Don't get me wrong, I usually feel pretty positive about my activities (although I have had some major flops) but I don't go the extra mile to make the projects cute, and professional looking.  I just make them kid-functional.

Anyway, Miss M. started *real* preschool so I wanted to do something for Buddy.  He turned 2 in August and has spent his whole life being dragged around to Miss M.'s activities.  So, I invited 4 other moms to bring their 2 year olds to my house for an hour of "Monkey School" (I let Buddy pick the name) once a week.  And because I am a cheap-skate, I requested that they give me 5 dollars per month for supplies.  I don't have a formal curriculum, and I am not trying to teach them letters or numbers.  I just want them to get use to group activities and following directions in a group.  My basic goal is to do a story, a song, a gross motor activity, sensory experience and a project (either science or art). Here is the run down of our last lesson.

Opening Song:  If you Like Monkey School (to the tune of Happy and you know it).
If you like Monkey School, clap your hands (or say hi to so and so, stomp your feet etc.)
If you like Monkey School, clap your hands.
If you like Monkey School and you think it's really cool.
If you like Monkey School, clap your hands.

Book:  The Little Old Lady who Wasn't Afraid of Anything. ( I have props for the kids to hold up and do the actions at the appropriate time)

Gross Motor:  Pumpkin tells dance.

Sensory Bin:  Rice with orange and black spiders.  I put a black circle in the bottom of a pie tin and an orange circle in the bottom of another.  Then I wrapped spider webs around the tins and had the kids dig threw the rice to find spiders and then color sort them into the right web.

Project:  Water color surprise.
I drew Halloween pictures onto white paper with a white crayon and then had the kids water color over it to discover the surprise.

Song:  Oh Once I had a  pumpkin (to the tune of Have you ever seen a lassie). I premade pumpkins on a Popsicle stick and had face shapes cut out.  The kids glued faces on the pumpkins and then we sang the song (flipping the pumpkins around to show the face at the appropriate time).

Oh once I had a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin
Oh once I had a with no face at all.
with no eyes and no nose and no mouth and no teeth.
oh once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.

So I made a jackolatern, jackolatern, jackolatern.
so i made a jackolatern with a big scary face.
with big eyes and a big nose and big mouth and sharp teeth.
so I made a jackolatern with a big scary face.

And that is it.  The kids had a good time.  although, it is still a little crazy because this is the first preschool type thing most of the kids have done.

Facebook Withdrawals Day 5

Andy will be so disappointed in me but I am back on facebook.   I missed the connection with my family.  I love my giant extended family (both my parents are the oldest of seven) and facebook truly is the best way I've found to stay in the loop on what is happening in everyone's lives.  So I deleted half my friends and am now down to family and a few good friends. My goal is to check it less (once or twice a day) so it isn't such a time sink.  We'll see how it goes.  

Facebook Withdrawals Day 2

I know this is ridiculous but I miss facebook.  I find myself sitting aimlessly at the computer, feeling lost and unconnected.  I have thought a several things to post (e.g. "brownie batter for lunch was probably not a good idea) and wanted to email a couple of women from church.  but I couldn't because I don't have their actual emails, just facebook messaging.  ugh. 

If I had to decide today, I would undelete my account and just try to work on my willpower to only check it once a day.  But, I committed for a week.  No feeling is final.  Maybe I'll feel differently on Sunday. 

Facebook Withdrawals. *updated

I deleted my facebook account a little over an hour ago.  And already, I am mentally writing status updates about how hard it is to not post status updates.  So I am cheating and posting them here.

• Taylor is surprised by how many times she has typed http://www.facebook.com/ just out of habit.

Wish me luck.

...........................................................

There has been some interest in my reasoning for quitting facebook.  So here goes.

Pros:

• feel more connected with my extended family, ward members, and some friends that I wouldn't be in contact with otherwise (my immediate family and close friends keep in touch anyway)
• my extended family, ward members, some friends etc. have more access to what is going on with me.

Cons: 

• (and this is really my main reason) lately I have had a hard time posting things on facebook because it feels a little narcissistic to me.  I say that without intending any criticism of other people.  I truly love reading updates about my friends and family and I never feel that they are being narcissistic but for my own self, I just haven't wanted to post as much because it feels weird to announce to all the random people I am "friends" what I had for dinner.  
• Facebook is a time sink.  I waste so much time on facebook.  And I simply do not have the willpower to only check it occasionally.  I am an all or nothing girl.  

So after much internal debate, I decided to delete my account.  Although, for better or worse, facebook allows you 14 days to change your mind.  So I'll reevaluate in a week to make sure.  I am sad that my extended family won't know what is going on with me (most are unwilling to sign into my private blog) and I know I'll miss updates from my friends but my close friends will fill me in no matter what (or at least they'd better).

Forget not to be Patient with Yourself.

Last week, against my better judgement, I attended the General Relief Society Meeting for my church.  I wanted to be with my sisters, and they (unlike me) are not boycotting the meeting.  Some of you are probably wondering why I'm boycotting it (I'm not going to go until the Church considers it important enough to be part of General Conference) and some of you are probably thinking I am a hypocrite for not being true to myself (I won't apologize for valuing time with my sisters more than my useless stance on the General Relief Society meeting).   

Anyway, President Uchtdorf gave an amazing talk.  If you missed it, you should be excited to read it when it becomes available.  I'm not going to give a summary here but as part of the talk he counseled women to "forget not to be patient with yourself".  As I looked around the room, I could see that sentence resonating with every woman in there.  every woman, except for me.  Maybe I am a freak, but I have always felt that my problem is I cut myself too much slack.  I am too patient with myself.  If I feel tired, I let my kids watch a movie while I nap because "I deserve it".  If I am not in the mood to tidy the house, I let myself take the day off because "I'll just clean it tomorrow".  If I am feeling sad, I buy myself icecream because "it's okay to have a bad day".   If I don't meet one of my weekly goals (even if I mess up on Monday), I just shrug and say, "I'll try again next week." 

In fact, in the past couple of weeks, I have really been working on being more accountable to myself and being less patient with my weaknesses.  So the advice felt a little ironic to me, and made me feel like an outsider.  Does anyone else feel like they are too easy on themselves rather than too hard? 

No Feeling is Final.

I had forgotten how much I love poetry.  Thank you FMH for rekindling a part of me that was lost admist the relentless (yet rewarding) toddler years. This poem spoke to me.   

Go To The Limits of Your Longing

God speaks to each of us as he makes us
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
Go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.


Rainer Maria Rilke
Book of Hours, I 59


I also loved this quote: 

“…I would like to beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.


And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903 in Letters to a Young Poet


It resonated with me and where I am with my struggles with my faith and my church.  I need to love and live the questions; rather than waiting for the answers. 

Highly Sensitive Advice?

My 3 year old daughter M.  is (for lack of a better description) a super sensor.  Like most personality traits, it cycles in its intensity but there were several weeks when we would go through half a dozen shirts before she'd settle on one. and then we'd go through 3 or 4 pairs of pants before she would find a pair that would work.  To make matters worse, during that intense period, usually her clothes would start bugging her after 45 minutes (which nearly always coincided with me trying to get out the door) and we had to go through the whole process again.  Truthfully, during those few weeks we were never on time anywhere. And M. only wore pants when we were outside.  It just wasn't worth the battle in our own home.  S. and I used to (okay, still) joke that M. has the same cry for breaking a leg and a tag bugging her.   You may laugh , but it is 100% true. 

I was feeling very frustrated with the whole thing until a visit to a friend's house changed my perspective.  One of M.'s friends has the best dress up clothes.  Princess dresses, leotards, tutu's, veils, fringe, boas--you name it.  M. desperately wanted to wear them.  She kept trying them on, bursting into tears because they "bugged her", and asking me to help get them off.  Once she calmed down, she would try on the same dress again because "maybe it wouldn't bug" her this time and go through the whole process again.  After giving up on one dress up, she would then go through the entire process with a different dress.  This was perhaps the first time I realized how uncomfortable clothing must feel to her.  She REALLY wanted to participate in dressing up but her super sensors wouldn't let her.  And this was also the first time an outsider got a glimpse of what getting M. dressed really was liked and her sympathy was very validating, but that is another story.

Obviously this was a trying time for my patience but things got a little better when my friend handed me a book (Raising your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka), and said that it might give me some ideas for M.  To which I said, "um, thanks but I don't really consider M. spirited."  "Well . . . some of the chapters seem to apply" said my tactful friend.  hmph, I thought.  But she was right.  

Raising your Spirited Child had a whole chapter on kid's sensitivities to clothes (I really only read those chapters because in other ways, M. is the opposite of spirited) and the chapter was fantastic.  Although, to be honest, the behavior analytic side of me was embarrassed that I didn't think up the interventions on my own.  I totally should have.  Anyway, the minute I finished reading the chapter I busted out labels for all of M.'s clothes.  She suddenly had a sock drawer, a shirt drawer, a pant drawer, etc. etc. etc.  I told her that sometimes clothes bug her and that is okay but it is (and here is the important part) her job to change her clothes not mine.  Suddenly the battle was gone.  Suddenly M. felt empowered.  Suddenly things seemed to bug her less (I am not kidding) and when clothing did bug her, she knew what to do. It was such a drastic change and an incredibly simple intervention.  I could not believe I had fought the battle for so long. 

The other thing I did that seemed to help (and I don't think this was in the book but reading it inspired me) was to write a little picture book for M. about wearing clothes.  She loved the book and responds well to that type of learning.  My whole purpose shifted from trying to get M. to get dressed quickly, to teaching her strategies that she could employ on her own to handle her sensory issues.

All of this brings me to the book The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine N. Aron.  I figured that if a book about spirited children had some great ideas, a book directly about sensitive children would be even better.  I was wrong.

Admittedly, I am not the best person to review parenting books.  I tend to feel like most (if not all) good parenting ideas are behavior analytic in nature and that different books just put different padding around those ideas.  That being said, this book was exceptionally annoying.  First, it was SO WORDY.  She would take pages to say things that could have been explained in a bullet point.  Second, I felt like most of the book was a cheer leading section for highly sensitive kids.  I did not need this.  I already think that M. is awesome and I already can see how her highly sensitive nature has its pros and cons (just like any personality trait).  and finally, this book was sorely lacking in practical advice.  For example, when talking about how easy it is to feel frustrated with your highly sensitive child, Aron's advice is to  . . . wait for it . . . be patient.  Wow.  Why didn't I think of that?   Clearly I was not a fan of the book.  If you need advice on your "highly sensitive child" (I still like the term super sensor) check out Raising your Spirited Child. 

As for M. she is doing much better.  We have our bad days.  Just this morning, we tried on 5 pair of socks before I decided it would be okay for her to wear her shoes without socks.  But overall she is doing MUCH better.  In fact, last weekend we went back to her friends house and she wore all the dress up options and she only started crying once.  Apparently the sleeves slipping down bugged her but once she calmed down she suggested the solution of using a twist tie to hold them up.  Now that is progress.

Shogun by James Clavell

To be honest, I dragged my feet about reading this book for a long time.  After living in China, it felt disloyal to show interest in Japan.  I know it sounds weird to say that, but what can I say?  It turns out that  Communist propaganda works.  For the first few months after returning from China, I felt defensive of Mao, like Taiwan should still be part of the Mainland,  and a little ( I am not proud of this) distaste for Japan.   Thankfully I soon came to my senses.  And when I finaly got around to reading Shogun . . . wow.  I loved it.  Well, more accurately I loved the first 1000 pages (it kind of drags a little bit at the end) but it is definitely worth reading.  It gives such great insight into the Japanese culture.  Well, to be honest, I really have no idea how accurate Clavell's portrayal is but it seems like it gives great insight into the Japanese culture.   

Shogun tells the tale of Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, who along with his surviving crew, shipwrecks on the coast of Japan during the 1600s.  The 1200 page novel is the story of his attempt to assimilate into the Japanese culture while trying to fix his ship, attain riches, and head back home to England.  Obviously, the story is much more complex than this and truthfully I could tell you nearly everything about the plot, and it wouldn't spoil the book for you.  The magic of Shogun is found in the details.  It's been weeks since I finished the book, and I still catch myself pondering scenes.  Shogun also has helped me be a better person.  You may laugh, but it's true. 

For example, Clavell's description of karma and zen has helped me develop a coping strategy for my anxiety.  Whenever I feel myself starting to worry, I just tell myself that if what I am worrying about comes to pass, that is my karma and there is no sense in worrying.  I'm sure that sentence didn't seem that helpful to you but if you immerse yourself in Shogun, it will.

Along those same lines, Toranaga (one of the main Japanese leaders) tells his son that "patience is very important. The strong are the patient ones. Patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: Hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don't give way to the seven, you're patient, then you'll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with Eternity".  I had never considered anxiety (can you tell that anxiety is at the forefront of my mind right now?) as a lack of patience.  But it's true.  Most of my anxiety stems from worrying about unknowns, or what ifs--in other words, things that are yet to be.  Patience would mean waiting until an event exists before reacting to it.  What a gift that would be. 

Anyway, I  know 1200 pages seems daunting but I think it's worth reading.  Heck, I've even read it twice.  and you know what?  In another 5 years, I'll probably read it again.  Although, as my DH is always quick to point out, that isn't necessarily an endorsement.  In a pinch, I'll reread books I hated.  But in this particular case, I'd be rereading it because I loved it.

Balance Bikes

I like to research things before I buy them.  I make pro and con lists, read reviews, ask people, etc.  Usually this process is relatively painless.  A couple of google searches and I am good to go.  Researching balance bikes was not quite so easy.  The first problem was that there is not an consensus on the name.  These pedal-less bikes go by Run Bikes, or Push Bikes, or (my personal favorite) Balance Bikes.  Also, there were very few comparative reviews.  In fact, when I was researching this about a year ago, I only found two (there are more now).  This New York Times article and this cycling blog.  Both of these reviews were really helpful and informative.  If you are considering purchasing a balance bike go read them. now. 

Because I am a cheapskate, I easily ruled out the bikes that weren't floating around the 100 dollar price point.  I don't care how awesome the bike is, I am not spending $300 on a bike my kid will use for 6 months.  I also easily ruled out the wooden bikes.  I am not really sure why but I had zero interest in them.  Some people love them, but I wanted a bike that looked like a bike.  I thought my daughter would like it better and I thought it would wear better.  Oh, and I also ruled out the Adam's Run Bike because I can't support a company that names their pink bike the "Girl" bike and the blue bike the "Boy" bike.  That is inexcusable. 

At the end of the day, I was debating between the Kinderbike and the Striderbike.  Yes, it's true, one review was very scornful of the Strider Bike, but I seriously considered it because it was the only balance bike I had seen in person.  And my friend's daughter made it look AWESOME.  Also, I liked that it had a place to rest the feet. 

So . . . in the end, we went with the Kinderbike.  It was well reviewed on both of the comparative reviews and I liked the fact that it had real tires (rather than foam tires like the Strider bike) and that it had a higher weight limit.  And I have to say, I was right.  The kinderbike clearly is nicer than the Strider bike.  BUT, after comparing them both side by side for the past 8 months (we ride bikes a lot with our friends), I can say with authority: it doesn't matter.  The kids weigh so little, that nicer components just don't make that big of a difference.  Every bike has pros and cons.  I like the foot rest on Strider, as well as how light the bike is.  And I like the inflatable tires and heavier weight limit on the Kinderbike. 

I guess what I am trying to say is don't waste your time researching.  They all cost about the same, and they all serve the same function, and every balance bike I've seen is of good enough quality to last through a couple of kids.  Just go out and get one.  They are awesome. 

My cautious daughter (2 and 3/4) during her first week on the Balance Bike

And here she is 6 months later.  Believe me, we thought this day would never come.