Cleaning Trickery

I recently realized that Bobble could do a lot more than I was having him do around the house. I remember I used to let him just match socks for me with laundry, but the other day I saw him actually folding laundry and doing it well. If I asked him to do some laundry, however, he wasn't interested.

Same with anything else. I likes to help clean, but only when he wants to. If he's asked, no dice. Having "chores" or "clean up" on a schedule didn't change this, despite him always wanting to do what was on the schedule any other time.

This past weekend, however, I finally found a way that works (at least for him)!

He likes to watch the show "UmiZoomi", and they always have missions. He also likes to play video games where they have specific challenges or missions to complete for him to move on in the game. I put this knowledge to the best use I could, and hand wrote a note for him to find in the morning. (He cannot read 100% on his own, but he can pick out the majority of the words these days.)

It read something along the lines of:

Bobble, 

Here are your missions for Sunday morning:
1) Pick up living room
2) Vacuum living room
3) Put away YOUR laundry

Good luck!

Love, 
Mom

The list actually had 7 items on it, but all were tiny (the living room was mostly picked up already), easy to do (one was literally telling me a different room was ready for me to vacuum it), and worded simply so he felt he could read it himself and would actually try.

He took to the "missions" swimmingly, and took great delight in crossing the items off as he completed them. I'm going to start putting "missions" on the fridge on a dry erase board and see if I still have luck getting him to cooperate!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Super Why! ABC Letter Game (review)

A great game for beginning readers is the Super Why ABC Letter Game by University Games. It helps with all the reading basics like letter recognition, word meaning (selecting the correct word for the sentence), rhyming, and letter sounds, as well as counting to 4.

You can play as one of the four show characters: Alpha Pig, Princess Presto, Super Why, or Wonder Red. The youngest player goes first, spinning the spinner. They move the number of spaces the spinner lands on, and draw a card to match the space they land on.

The goal is to have the most cards when you reach the finish circle, but you only get cards if you correctly perform the instructions on the card. The child doesn’t need to be able to read the card, they just need to have someone to read it to them. Just like the show (see review here), the cards for each character match their ability or talent. This means that a card for Wonder Red would involve rhyming, and a card for Alpha Pig would involve letter recognition. If you couldn’t point to the correct letter for an Alpha Pig card, you don’t get the card.

We tend to work with the kids a lot to help them get the cards, and I think there have only been a couple of times when we didn’t end up giving Bobble a card. He had the most trouble with the concept for rhyming, and always tried to change the end sound instead of the beginning sound. (Example: If you said Cat, he would think Cake rhymed because they both started with the same sound.) This game has helped him understand rhyming, but it took a while. The only time he ever didn’t get a card, it was a rhyming card, and it was after working with him for a while to try and help him get it.

Eventually the whole game was way too easy for Bobble with the exception of the rhyming, so we changed the rules to him needing to answer one of each of the 4 types of cards correctly when he lands on the finish circle. If he doesn’t answer all 4 cards correctly, he has to wait until it’s his turn again, then he has to answer all 4 again. This was helpful for those games where he got lucky (in his eyes) and didn’t land on a Wonder Red circle at all. Since that’s what he needed to work on, at least it encouraged him to learn the skill so he could win the game… and he loves winning.

Super Why is available at Amazon for around $20 and can be found at some retail stores like Target or Kmart.

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. University Games did not sponsor this post in any way. All products mentioned above were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Shopping Tip

There comes a point when babywearing is only helpful on occasion. As the kids get older, they don’t always want to be worn. It can be just as exhausting putting a child on you that does not want to be worn as it can be to chase them down in the store. My kids won’t sit in the cart most of the time (and try to climb out), don’t usually want to be worn unless tired or ill, and rarely stay next to me unless I only have one of them with me. It can be challenging to get them to be cooperative and end with me leaving the store with my sanity.

I tried handing my shopping list to the kids, but that ended up as a disaster. They fought over it, tore it, or crumbled it and threw it the floor as this hilarious new game of theirs. Not so fun for me, but I guess there is something to it since they were having so much fun. I tried writing two little fake lists. They weren’t pleased. Bobble was angry that they were not real words (he quickly realized they had no actual letters), and Squiggle was just plain angry that I still had a list in my hand. Obviously theirs were not good enough if I still had to have one.

Finally, by accident, I stumbled across a pretty decent solution, and quite by accident. I went to a craft store with my mother and the kids, and they were everywhere. Simply everywhere. There was no listening happening at all… until they found the little tablets of paper near the patterns accompanied by little tiny pencils. All they needed to be content was the ability to make their own shopping lists while shopping. Obviously this won’t always work, but it does make it easier since they also will willingly sit in the cart so they can write their lists as we’re in the store. Bobble tries to write the actual words of things he sees that he wants, and Squiggle scribbles on the notepad or paper that she has whenever she sees something she wants.

This works in the grocery store and in retail stores. If they are on foot, we still move slowly since they are pausing to write what they want, but at least they aren’t running off!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Crayola Explosion

** This is not a sponsored post **

I feel like kids watch too much television these days, and sometimes I feel like it's a necessary evil. I try not to use television to buy me time to do things all the time, and today I opted for painting time in the kids' toy room. Bobble and Squiggle had begged all morning, and they even cleaned up their room so they could paint in there. The floor is a hard floor, so it works fairly well. No carpet to worry about messing up.

I needed just a little bit of time. The tiniest bit of time. Two cartoons would have done it (about 30-40 minutes), or part of a movie, even. Still, they want to paint. I want to let them do stuff away from the television. I allow it. I grab the Crayola Washable Kids' Paint, the paintbrushes, and some paper. They sit down quietly and start to paint.

Now, I'd like to point out that in the recent past, painting has gone quite well with them.

They focus quite well on the task at hand, even when the wind is trying to blow away their pictures (which is why there are rocks on the corners). The paints above are Crayola Washable Kids' Paint (paint pots), and though they don't hold much paint (which was bad for Squiggle since she scoops globs of paint out versus dipping and painting like Bobble), they worked nicely while they lasted. This gave me hope that this painting time would go well.

Their play room is directly above my head as I am washing and chopping potatoes, carrots, and celery. (Well, I peeled the carrots, too.) I hear them chatting as they paint. I hear excited foot steps from time to time, and I imagine them running over for a new sheet of paper from the pile. I wonder how bad the mess will be when I go up there, but still. Creative time. Cooking time. It was working.

... until I realized it wasn't. Bobble comes down the stairs and says that they started painting with their feet. I look at him, pause for a second, and then tell him, "Okay... I want you to go back upstairs until you are done painting, then call for me." I cringed a bit as he ran back up the (carpeted) stairs.

They decide they are done and they come downstairs, bringing with them containers of empty paint. Containers that were full when they started. I guessed that Squiggle glopped paint onto her paper since she doesn't dip her brush so much as scoop with her brush. I directed them towards the bathroom and asked them to clean up.

Then I go upstairs.

I stare blankly at the disaster, come downstairs, grab my phone, and record the explosion of colour in video and colour.

It was at this moment that I noticed the slogan on the (now empty) box of paint: Washability You Can Trust!

I sure hope so, Crayola. I sure hope so.

I grab dirty towels, a garbage bag, and a bottle of vinegar, then head back upstairs. I noticed the cup of water they were cleaning their brushes off with, and decided to utilize that water. This is water-soluble paint, right? It worked well, and I started pouring the water all over the dried paint that decorated our floor.

Pushing the towels across the floor, you could see the paint that it loosened just pushing away with the excess water that wasn't getting absorbed.

It didn't really make me scrub hard or anything, just wiping enough to make my arms tired after the millionth minute. I didn't need to use the vinegar at all.

It washed off the floor easily. It washed off the walls easily. It washed off the kids easily.

...but what about the laundry!? Her cute dress, the towels used to clean the mess... they are really testing Crayola's claim!

The open(ish) towel is a light blue normally, the wadded towel on the bottom is a medium-light brown. I used more towels than this, but this was just a sampling.

I washed them with our regular laundry detergent (some random store brand of free & clear detergent), dried them, and here they are:

I didn't take a picture of any of these towels open because I can't tell which ones I used for cleanup! I know the brown on top was used and the bright blue below it was used because those are the only two that colour in the load. I don't know which of the lighter blue (on the right) were used. The wipes in the picture were not used in cleanup, but are now stained.

Much cleaner than it was, but visibly stained.

Bottom half of the dress

Bottom section of dress on the back/side of dress

As far as the claim on washability, I'm split. The floor (walls, desk, table...) were a surprisingly easy clean. It gave me faith that the laundry stood a fighting chance... and the towels came out great. I can't tell which ones I used. The wipes that happened to be in the load with them (that weren't used on any paint) are very stained (they were white), and the dress is much cleaner, but it's not clean. The dress is definitely a crafting dress now, sadly. The confusing part of that (to me) is that the dress and towels are both cotton, and the wipes were cotton, hemp, and bamboo. If it washed out of the cotton towels, why didn't it wash out of the cotton dress?

I do need to thank you, Crayola, for living up to your claim in ease of clean up. I just wish it washed out of the clothing, too!

Over all, I'd recommend the products. They washed off the surfaces and children very easily. I would just recommend using old clothing that you don't care about while they paint (unless your kids will actually keep a smock on... mine won't!), or buy plain white clothes for craft time so they slowly become "artistic" looking clothes. My kids love tie dye, so I'm sure they'd love "painted" clothing. I just wish it wasn't this cute little dress that had to be the casualty!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. Crayola did not sponsor this post in any way. All products mentioned above were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

From Clingy to Carefree

Some of the changes that have occurred since I stopped blogging for a few months have been big things. One of them is school. Well, sort of. Squiggle attends the same school (a preschool and child care center) that Bobble does, though she is only 2 ½ years old. I guess she’s in pre preschool?

She has been there many times while I pick up or drop off her brother, and when I would volunteer to help with functions or parties with his class. Sometimes I would take her to pick him up 30 minutes before we actually needed to leave, and I’d let her play with the other kids for those 30 minutes (the staff never minded).

Considering how clingy she is, I was still really worried with how she’d take being away from me. The longest she had ever been away from me was 2 hours, and that was once. I was getting a hair cut and running to a store, and she was home with her dad. There would be times I would come home from a brief outing (15min) and she would be hyperventilating or in hysterics because I left. She was with her father. Let me repeat: SHE WAS WITH HER FATHER.

She loves her daddy. It’s not like she doesn’t like being with him. She totally adores him… but he’s not mom. She is really that clingy, and that’s something that has always surprised me considering how strong-willed and independent she acts.

I am still at home with the kids, but as I near the end of my degree program, the work load gets heavier. That makes sense, so we made the decision to send her to school for a couple days a week for just a few hours in the morning. She would throw a tantrum every time her brother left (or we dropped him off and she was in the car) and she couldn’t go. She really, really wanted to go. We just crossed our fingers that this was the right decision for her.

Her first day of school she didn’t care we showed up to pick her up. I’m not joking! We both showed up to collect Squiggle and Bobble, and Squiggle just kept running around and around, playing with the kids in her class. When she saw us, she grinned at us and kept running with her friends. She didn’t care that we were there.

Her teacher mentioned that at about 2.5 hours into her 3.5 hour school day, she teared up a bit and asked for mommy. The teacher told her we would be there after she eats, and invited her to come play. She did. That was the only time she cried for me, though she did ask for me a couple other times that first week.

She has now been at school for about 6 weeks, and still throws a tantrum when we take her brother and not her (he goes 5 days a week for preschool, she goes 3 days). That can only be a good sign, right?

This is all being shared with you not to just keep you updated on my family, but for encouragement. I know there are many, many parents out there with really clingy children. I know they probably had people questioning their parenting style because their child still sleeps with them (in their bed, in their room, whatever), still nurses, etc. Even a super clingy child that was still cosleeping and would cry if you try to leave them with their daddy for a minute can transition to being away from parents quickly and amazingly well. 

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Misspoken Words

We've all heard those "out of the mouth of babes" sort of things. We've probably all got our own story of things our kids have said, too.

When first learning to speak, Bobble frequently said both "truck" and "frog" like a certain 4-letter word that starts with F.

Squiggle likes to call her purse her "person", and bananas are "bee-nuhs". Since we teach the correct anatomical words for body parts, she also says "china" instead of vagina.

I've discovered that, as he gets older, Bobble enjoys making up words. He likes to make up names to call people, too. His favourite, lately, is "cocoa banana". I have been called a cocoa banana more times than I can count.

Bobble also enjoys calling us by our first names because he thinks it's funny, despite us correcting him. Sometimes he says, "Thank you cocoa banana Christine." at dinner, and Squiggle parrots, "thank you cocoa beenuh Christmas."

Sometimes he just straight up changes sounds in words... but today we had a less-than-appropriate one.

In a fit of silliness, he changed hot chocolate to "hot cahck-lick". 

.........

Oh good grief.

I am just thankful we were at home when that was said and not out in public. 

What embarrassing things have your children said?