At two and a half my little one now seems more like a little girl than a toddler *sob*. It is a truly wonderful age – her imagination is amazing, her dance moves are hilarious, her ability to learn is inspiring, and her giggle just so infectious.
But what I have come to realise is that our days are now just one big negotiation.
We wake up, I negotiate her coming to take her bedtime nappy off (she says she likes it wet). Then I negotiate getting her downstairs for breakfast (she's not hungry). Then once downstairs she finds all her favourite things to play with so again I have to persuade her up to the breakfast table.
Me: "oh but little giraffe says he really wants to help you eat your breakfast."
3:0 to mummy.
And so the negotiations continue:
Sit on the potty.
Go upstairs again.
Get dressed. ("But your rabbit dress is in the wash and this one would be perfect for running really fast in.")
Brush teeth.
Go downstairs again.
Put shoes and coat on if you want to go to the park.
Hold my hand walking to the park.
Time to leave the park.
Hold my hand walking back from the park.
Sit up for lunch.
Wear bib.
Use fork.Wash hands.
Just play a minute while mummy does the dishes.
Don't play with mummy's jewellery boxes.
Get shoes and coats on.
Get in car.
Sit in the trolley.
Persuade her to look after the bread rather than the eggs.
Stay on trolley at the tills.
...Oh you get the idea. I'm worn out writing it!
It's battle of the wills and I can just about outwit her with my clever negation skills at the moment. We get there in the end... but just once wouldn't it be nice to say "time to get our coats on" and hear "OK mummy here I come".
Those days are just around the corner right?
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Monday 14 May 2012
TinyTigs – Monthly kids crafts to your door
This weekend my little girl received a lovely treat through the post – a craft pack from TinyTigs for us to test out and review. The parcel was personalised to my daughter which was a lovely touch and she was really excited to get some post just for her!
TinyTigs is a really great idea, started by Caroline, a mum of 2 girls, who loves crafting and understands that for some people it can be a tiny bit daunting! For a monthly fee TinyTigs send you a craft pack every month which includes everything you need for a minimum of three projects (except the glue, but that's something most people have about the house anyway). She has tried to make the packs as accessible and un-daunting as possible and after trying them out I can confirm that they are not at all scary!
It is perfect for parents who enjoy arts and crafts with the kids but struggle come up with ideas of what to do next, or for time strapped mums like myself! I like to try and do one crafty thing with my daughter on my days off and I really try to maximise our time together, which is always hard when there's shopping and housework to be done! This just makes it all so easy, the packs contain instruction and all the craft bits you'll need, so there's no hunting about for things... just straight into the fun!
Here's what we discovered when we opened our parcel:
Our surprise crafts to make were: a gold paper crown, tissue paper flowers in a wall vase, and some union jack flag bunting. Squiggle immediately picked up the crown pack and very excitedly wanted to make it straight away... I think it was the sparkly gems that did it!
It was very easy to pop the crown shapes out and the craft was nice and simple so she could get creative with all the decorations that had been given to her. I have to say also that it contained the best glitter I have ever seen, nice and chunky so it wasn't everywhere and was easy to tidy up! There was a second crown in the pack and we have plenty of decorations and glitter left, so we are going to make that one next week! I would say this was great fun for her age to do with mummy or daddy but it would also be enjoyable for an older child too, who could get creative by themselves.
There are some reasonable price packages and what I thought was great is the option to cancel at any time, there is more information on their website: www.tinytigs.co.uk
They also run a monthly TinyTigs kid's competition to inspire the little ones which sounds great fun and if you are quick new subscriptions gets a free PVC painting coat.
It is perfect for parents who enjoy arts and crafts with the kids but struggle come up with ideas of what to do next, or for time strapped mums like myself! I like to try and do one crafty thing with my daughter on my days off and I really try to maximise our time together, which is always hard when there's shopping and housework to be done! This just makes it all so easy, the packs contain instruction and all the craft bits you'll need, so there's no hunting about for things... just straight into the fun!
Here's what we discovered when we opened our parcel:
Our surprise crafts to make were: a gold paper crown, tissue paper flowers in a wall vase, and some union jack flag bunting. Squiggle immediately picked up the crown pack and very excitedly wanted to make it straight away... I think it was the sparkly gems that did it!
It was very easy to pop the crown shapes out and the craft was nice and simple so she could get creative with all the decorations that had been given to her. I have to say also that it contained the best glitter I have ever seen, nice and chunky so it wasn't everywhere and was easy to tidy up! There was a second crown in the pack and we have plenty of decorations and glitter left, so we are going to make that one next week! I would say this was great fun for her age to do with mummy or daddy but it would also be enjoyable for an older child too, who could get creative by themselves.
There are some reasonable price packages and what I thought was great is the option to cancel at any time, there is more information on their website: www.tinytigs.co.uk
They also run a monthly TinyTigs kid's competition to inspire the little ones which sounds great fun and if you are quick new subscriptions gets a free PVC painting coat.
I'm really looking forward to us making the flowers together and I am saving the bunting for our jubilee decorations. I'll post the pictures when we make them!
I love the fact that the May pack activities are really relevant to the month, it means we'll get lots of value out of the crafts after we make them. Squiggle with be wearing her crown and waving her bunting come jubilee weekend!
Stress free, happy crafting – hurrah!
You can also keep up to date with TinyTigs news on twitter @Tinytigs
Thursday 10 May 2012
Potty time... the next instalment
At the minute I can't decide if we are moving forward, going backwards, or just staying the same. I'm trying not to worry and just take it as it comes but any advice would be very welcome, I'm just wondering if these are common potty issues?
We've been doing really well and had quite a lot of action on the potty and toilet. We've been so pleased with her and she's been getting lots of well deserved excited praise. My one concern is that her potty triumphs are always after I convince her to give it a go. The positive side is she must be doing well with her bladder control as she is holding on till I put her on the potty to go and on the whole keeping her favourite pants dry. We have however had a couple of wee accidents last weekend (one sitting on my lap in Nandos - nice) and one in the lounge when I think she was too busy playing to notice, but I know this is to be expected!
I'm just not sure now how to get to the next step where she asks for the toilet. I'm not sure she recognises she needs to go but if she does how do I convince her it's a good idea to tell me. She is very articulate so that's not the issue but gets very engrossed in what she's doing and hates to be interrupted mid game/book/programme! I've tried explaining that using the potty is great as you can play, pop on it quickly, and then get straight back to playing, rather than having to go off and get cleaned and changed. Not worked so far though!
I had a breakthrough on Monday when a toilet we visited had a squirty tap that splashed me, she's been a lot more keen to visit toilet since, I guess in the hope she can laugh at me again. Hey whatever works!
Number twos seem to be an even greater sticky problem with her, we've had success by me knowing her routine or watching out for her pulling a funny face but when she has to go she goes. There doesn't seem to be much holding in of this yet!
If anyone has any good tips of how to get to the next step I would love to hear them. There's no manual for this stuff is there?
We've been doing really well and had quite a lot of action on the potty and toilet. We've been so pleased with her and she's been getting lots of well deserved excited praise. My one concern is that her potty triumphs are always after I convince her to give it a go. The positive side is she must be doing well with her bladder control as she is holding on till I put her on the potty to go and on the whole keeping her favourite pants dry. We have however had a couple of wee accidents last weekend (one sitting on my lap in Nandos - nice) and one in the lounge when I think she was too busy playing to notice, but I know this is to be expected!
I'm just not sure now how to get to the next step where she asks for the toilet. I'm not sure she recognises she needs to go but if she does how do I convince her it's a good idea to tell me. She is very articulate so that's not the issue but gets very engrossed in what she's doing and hates to be interrupted mid game/book/programme! I've tried explaining that using the potty is great as you can play, pop on it quickly, and then get straight back to playing, rather than having to go off and get cleaned and changed. Not worked so far though!
I had a breakthrough on Monday when a toilet we visited had a squirty tap that splashed me, she's been a lot more keen to visit toilet since, I guess in the hope she can laugh at me again. Hey whatever works!
Number twos seem to be an even greater sticky problem with her, we've had success by me knowing her routine or watching out for her pulling a funny face but when she has to go she goes. There doesn't seem to be much holding in of this yet!
If anyone has any good tips of how to get to the next step I would love to hear them. There's no manual for this stuff is there?
Wednesday 9 May 2012
It's not going to stop raining so...
...lets do some sponge painting!
It's cheap, it's messy, and it's very fun (especially when you are 2!)
My little one really got stuck in doing this, so much so I've hidden the sponges for a few days so we don't have to do it every time it rains!
I got our sponges from Tesco, they were only about a pound and a pound well spent. We used some Galt poster paints for the colour and then drew round them in pastels afterwards.
Sorry I didn't get any photos of the printing in progress... messy hands!
It's cheap, it's messy, and it's very fun (especially when you are 2!)
My little one really got stuck in doing this, so much so I've hidden the sponges for a few days so we don't have to do it every time it rains!
I got our sponges from Tesco, they were only about a pound and a pound well spent. We used some Galt poster paints for the colour and then drew round them in pastels afterwards.
Sorry I didn't get any photos of the printing in progress... messy hands!
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