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Homespun Aesthetic

Sharing my love for the beauty of handmade

Toddler

The Unavoidable Terror–Potty Training

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20131206-183312.jpgParents across the globe are made to believe that potty training is some terrible right of passage that we must all push through with the two goals being no more diapers and still having some bit of sanity left. Amen, right? What if it doesn’t have to be?

When Natalia started fighting her diaper changes I knew our days of fluffy bums were coming to a close. Although, baby is only 8 months so I can still feed my -slight- addiction through her. I found a bunch of blog articles and armed myself with tips and techniques like sticker charts and potty toys/treats….

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Mommy Mishaps: Learning to Parent a Sensitive Toddler

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I’ve never claimed to be the perfect parent. I don’t do things consistently from anybody’s “book” and I try to trust my gut for the majority of my parenting decisions. Lately I’ve started to notice how sensitive my toddler is becoming.

For instance, we went on vacation to the Oregon Coast last week. One of the hotels we stayed at had a pool that you could look at from the end of the hallway. After dinner that night, we were coming back to the room and while waiting for the door to be unlocked, Jake strolled to the end of the hall, Natalia right be hind him. The  second she saw the pool, she knew she did not want to go right to bed, even though it was already 9:30 pm. We tried taking her into the room to put on her suit (because if ever there is a time to toss aside bedtime and routine, it’s a vacation) but she wasn’t having it. Jake ended up taking her down to the pool and just sitting on the side while she put her feet in. After 10-15 minutes he explained to her that they needed to go back to the room and either change their clothes or go to bed. She screamed bloody murder the entire way to the room. (Oh, and for a solid 20 minutes after). How we didn’t end up with anyone knocking on our door about the noise, I’ll never know. As I sat there watching it unfold and watching the tiniest things thereafter set her off all over again, I thought about how just waiting to go check out the pool could’ve avoided the entire situation.

She has had other similar situations where the smallest thing (ex: closing the door when we get home  & forgetting to ask her to do it), causes a full blown tantrum, complete with screaming, flailing, and even hurting herself. Sometimes I find myself hurrying to get something or another done and I need to instead take the time to really slow down and do things at a toddler’s speed. I know a big part of it is that she doesn’t communicate verbally well, but we’ve found a few ways to really get her to start talking a little more and she goes to speech therapy 2 times a week. I’m hoping it will be easier to avoid these tantrums and meltdowns once she can find a way to tell us what she needs, feels, or thinks.

Did you have a parenting fail this week? Tell me all about it and you could be featured in next week’s Mommy Mishaps post. =)

mommy mishaps

Summertime Reading Fun

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My oldest daughter, Hannah Kate really excelled with reading this past year when she was in Kindergarten. We are continuing with reading throughout the summer, and Taylor is learning to recognize important sight words. I thought I would share what books we have enjoyed, not just this summer, but even since I was just reading to them before bedtime.

llama llama First and foremost, the books we enjoy immensely are the Llama Llama books! I love how it takes real life situations and puts them in a fun rhyme for children 2 years of age and up. They have also been great beginning reader books for my 5 year old.

pinkaliciousAnother set of books my 4.5 year old “diva princess”, Taylor, loves is Pinkalicious. They say they are for 5-7 year olds, but she has been loving them since she was 3. These are about a girl with a BIG imagination, who loves pink, sparkles, princesses, and anything girly! These books also come in “levels” of how hard they are to read, so it’s a great series of books to purchase to “grow” with.

Biscuit BooksLast, but definitely not least, we Love the Biscuit series! There is a wide variety to choose from, and they are the PERFECT books for beginner readers. My girls’ favorites are “Biscuit Goes to School” and “Biscuit Finds a Friend”.

What are some of your favorite books for your children? Have your families enjoyed any of the ones mentioned here?

Making Art From Nature

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Hi! I’m Barb from A Life in Balance and Frugal Local Kitchen, mom to 5 kiddos, avid gardener, writer, runner, and photographer. I’m always looking for easy ways to get my kids involved in art projects without too much fuss or mess. Making temporary art with nature materials leads my kids to think about construction, texture, color, and working in 2 dimension or 3 dimension as they figure out what it is they want to make with the materials. Since we have lots of flower beds in our yard, plus take walks in local woods, my kids have access to lots of materials.

Kid Art from Natural Materials

To get started, set up a crate outside and collect materials as the kids find them. Add in other materials like slices of wood. For larger pieces like long sticks, have a designated storage spot out of the way yet easy to access for clean up. Caveat: If you collect materials from outside your yard, make sure you have permission to do so. Neighbors usually don’t mind; local arboretums and refuges usually don’t permit removal of anything.

Kid Art from Natural Materials

You can set up a designated area for semi-permanent constructions or make them and break down the project down when the session is over. Just make sure to take a picture with the builders before dissembling. When out on a nature walk, take a short break and make some simple nature art to leave behind for someone else to enjoy.

Kid Art from Natural Materials

Do your kids like to build with natural materials? How do they incorporate natural materials into their play?

Barb is a mom of 5 kids who spends her day keeping track of socks, stuffed animals, library books, and a 4 year old when she isn’t writing about all the frugality, gardening, cooking, and reading she manages to fit in between the chaotic moments. She can be found at A Life in Balance or Frugal Local Kitchen.