encouraging preschooler independence

When I was in residency, doing pediatric check-ups in clinic, one of the questions we were prompted to ask parents of five-year-olds as part of the developmental assessment was, "Can your child prepare a bowl of cereal by himself?" Almost every time, the parent would look mildly startled and respond with something like, "I don't know. He's not allowed to do that."

As I sit here now, while four-year-old Faith puts a bib on her toddler sister and pours bowls of cereal for both of them... I think, those parents are crazy!!!

I mean, sure, sometimes she spills a little. But that's why we have the paper towels stored where she can reach them.

Here are some ways we're fostering our preschooler's independence:

- We have a small water dispenser and plastic cups on a low table in the kitchen so she can get herself a drink without help.

- The paper towels (as mentioned above) are on a holder that hooks on the cabinet doors under the sink, so she can reach them without a stool.

- Their toys are in open baskets -- no lids for easier and quicker putting-away-- with labels with pictures. The pictures are key. The pictures mean that my pre-readers know where everything goes. Not only does this lead to less "Mom, where's my _____?" but they can put things away more effectively too. Labels with pictures are by far my favorite kid-organization tip.

- Same thing for our three-section hamper, so Faith can pre-sort her own laundry. She does a reasonably good job.

- Same thing for their shoes. (I, uh, might go a little overboard on labels. But they're SO AWESOME!) And the 4-year-old's hanging-up clothes (mainly skirts and dresses) are on a lower closet rod so she can access them and dress herself without help.

- We have a "clean up chart" that helps Faith straighten up without getting too overwhelmed, so she can accomplish mini goals even before everything is done. One the left half of a laminated* sheet is "To Do" with a sad face, and a bunch of small velcro squares. On the right half is "Done" with a happy face, and more velcro squares. Then we have a bunch of small laminated pictures of their different categories of toys with velcro on the back. So when it's clean up time, we stick the pictures of whatever they need to clean up on the left, and when they're done with one category of items, they get to move that picture over to the right side.

What do you do to encourage your kids to be independent in their daily activities? Any gold mines I've missed?

*Yes, I have a laminator, and it is awesome.

{p/h/f/r} - tropical weirdness & silly babies

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}!

Pretty:

A strange thing about living close to the equator is the way the days are pretty much the same length year-round (not to mention the lack of seasonal variation in weather). It really weirded me out when we first moved here; it felt like summer, it was JULY for goodness' sake-- not that that makes much difference here-- and yet the sun was setting before 7pm. It also rises by around 6am every day... which tends to lead to early-rising toddlers as well. But one benefit of being up with the sun is getting to walk into your back yard and see this:

Happy:

I mentioned in my last post about the free printable high-contrast images for newborns that I love. I claimed newborns love them too, and here I present Video Proof! Soak in the excited baby limb-flailing and fast breathing! (Oh, and a cameo from Josie.)

Funny:

These are Faith's favorite socks. She wears them year-round. I've considered taking them out of her drawer and putting them away (on the closet shelf? with the seasonal decor? in the trash?), but I mean... if jack-o-lantern socks made ME that happy, I'd wear them too.

Real:

Having three little kids who are reasonably close in age is great. They love each other dearly. Faith and Josie play fantastically together (or, well, as fantastically as one could expect a toddler and preschooler to play). But then there are also times like these:

Sigh.

To the linkup with you!

wiws - trinity sunday

It's my first time linking up with the ladies at Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday!

 Maxi dress: Old Navy

Camisole: Target maternity cami from years ago (works great as a nursing cami because it's so stretchy!)

Shrug: some generic thing from the Navy Exchange

Earrings and bracelets: Charming Charlie (cute birthday gift from my in-laws!)

Sandals: Famous Footwear

And how about what THEY wore Sunday?

Matchy-matchy polka-dot jersey dresses: Old Navy

(My girls love to match for church!)

Seersucker romper: hand-me-down from friends, not sure where it was originally from.

Now head back to the linkup to admire more well-dressed bloggers!

seven quick takes - ed. 28

1. This normal pregnancy shortness of breath (aka physiologic dyspnea of pregnancy) is killing me. Okay, not literally... obviously. Otherwise it wouldn't be normal/physiologic. I don't know if Jackson is sitting higher than the girls did, or if I just notice it more since I'm not working full-time, but when it hits hard I feel like I'm dying or something. Luckily it comes and goes, so I have periods of time where I can breathe comfortably, but man... I will not be sorry when this baby drops, even if I do start having to pee twenty times a day.

my poor internal organs, haphazardly shoved aside.

2. Vignettes from a house with two small girls:

Faith: "Mama, can put your cereal bowl in the sink?"
Me (thinking she is making a sweet offer to help): "Sure, baby!"
Faith (after a pause): "So, do it!!"

At 4:30am, I was woken by the following:
Faith: "Josie! JOSIE! Wake up! It's time to get up!"
Josie (sleepily): "Dawa? Uh?"
Me (jumping out of bed and rushing to the girls' room): "Faith! Stop!! It is not morning time!!!"
My thoughts: "WTF WHYYYYY"


3. If you haven't read this yet, do it. It is high-larious. The Presidents of the United States: In Order of Hotness. A few choice (spoiler-free!) quotes:

Here is a man whose appearance would be radically improved with the simple addition of a neck tattoo.

Nothing is sexier than a man giving a speech while covered in blood.

What’s not to love about a corrupt bad boy who plays by his own rules? He’s like the James Dean of presidents!


4. Honest Toddler makes me laugh every time.

5. Did you know you can download Facebook videos (without also downloading scammy-looking freeware)? I just figured this out. It actually works-- this was how I downloaded Faith's birthday video from earlier this week. Here's how you do it:

6. Ugh. The commissary on base has had pretty slim pickings lately, and it appears it'll be awhile before it gets better. DeCA expects several more months before Pacific commissaries return to normal. On Guam, there aren't really any civilian grocery stores in the same way we think of grocery stores in the states-- and the prices are absurd (think $8 for a gallon of milk), so we're kind of in a tight spot.

Shipments of staples are delayed often enough that it's not unusual to find shelves looking like this (photos from this past Monday, courtesy of my friend Katie):

bread selection

chicken selection

Thanks a lot, West Coast dockworkers!



7. Aaaaand I don't have a seventh take, so head back over to This Ain't the Lyceum!

rainbow birthday

Time for the long-overdue post about Faith's fourth birthday party... which was two weeks ago. Ah well.

When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she answered "Rainbow!" And thus was born the theme for her party. It was overall pretty low-key (friends from Jack's work and their kiddos) but she had a blast.

Decorations:

rainbow crepe paper streamers and white "cloud" balloons

white tablecloth with streamers taped down into a rainbow table runner

construction paper cut into streamers

Food and drink:

rainbow fruit & veggie trays, rainbow pretzel wands

homemade pizza (pepperoni, veggie, and cheese)

rainbow punch (would've worked better with more ice cubes or a smaller container)

The cake was inspired by this one, though there are lots of tutorials out there. It wasn't any harder to make than any other layer cake, just took a little extra effort. I just used a basic 3-layer white cake recipe (this one, except I used egg whites instead of whole eggs), then divided the batter into six bowls and colored each one with gel food coloring-- the liquid food coloring won't get you an intense enough color. Then I baked each layer in a 9-inch round pan, but because they were thinner than regular cake layers, I only baked them for 15 minutes. (I had to do two baking batches, since I only have 3 round cake pans.) Then I layered them together with white buttercream.

in process

post-slicing

I would've sworn I took a picture of the finished cake before cutting, but I can't find it. Anyway, the lettering on top was just Airhead candy cut out with mini alphabet cookie cutters. The cake was a HUGE hit, and delicious too.

Here's the birthday girl blowing out the candles! (And hiding under the tablecloth... as you do.)

Activities:

We really only had one activity, since all our child-guests were preschool-aged, and apparently I didn't take any pictures of that either. I made a rainbow "punch piñata" similar to this one. It was pretty easy to make, and it was a nice alternative to the free-for-all that results with traditional piñatas (especially for my hesitant-to-join-in girl).

We also had goody bags to distribute with various rainbow-colored goodies. I try to keep from giving out total junk, and only hand out what I wouldn't mind my kids receiving. The goody bags each contained one of those cheap watercolor paint boxes, a rainbow swirl lollipop, an elastic bracelet made from plastic pony beads with each kid's name in alphabet beads (Faith strung all the non-letter beads herself!), colored Twizzlers shaped into rainbows, a small inflatable beach ball, and a pencil with rainbow lead.

She loved her rainbow party! If you're interested, here's a link to the Pinterest board I made to keep track of party ideas.

seven quick takes - ed. 25

1. I'm really terrible at this blogging thing lately. Seriously, these past couple of weeks have flown by.  Plus, Jack was off-island this week (in Japan for a conference), so things were a bit more desperate than usual around here.

2. I'm still way behind on Downton Abbey, but I'm keeping a running list of all the medical problems that could've been fixed with modern medicine (hint: basically all of them) and exactly how. I'm in early Season 3 and I'm up to eight major life-changing medical issues that would be much, much smaller issues nowadays. It makes me ridiculously grateful that we live in the times we do. (Though I imagine 100 years from now, people will look back on diseases today and shake their heads in dismay almost as much.)

3. This is how sweet this baby is. Unless she's tired or hungry, she basically never gets frustrated. She laughs every time she makes a mistake stacking blocks. Every. Time. (She does the same thing when she stands and falls over. She thinks that is freaking hilarious.)

4. Ready for some more baby cuteness? Instead of being mad that Josie's scribbling on her coloring book, Faith says, "You did it!! Good job!! I'm so proud of you!!"

5. And because I'm on a mommy-blogging role, here are a few other memorable quotes from Faith:

"Other girls like kale. I like CHOCOLATE!!!"

Me: "Faith, why haven't you put your jammies on?"
Faith: (stark naked) "I did! They're pretend jammies!"

Me: "Faith, do you know how much I love you?"
Faith: "No!! You not loving me!"
Me: "What?! Why do you say that!"
Faith: "Because I love YOU! You not love ME!"
Me: "Well, we can both love each other."
Faith: "Oh. Okay."

6. This is a pretty good article: Top Ten Misconceptions About Guam.  And, for your viewing enjoyment, a time-lapse tropical Guamanian sunrise:

7. I'm too tired to think of a seventh quick take.

Head back to Conversion Diary for the linkup!

seven quick takes - ed. 24

1. Last week my Facebook feed was full of news stories about Gaza and ISIS. This week, it's full of articles about Robin Williams.  This one, by Fr. Dwight Longenecker, is probably my favorite: Robin Williams, C.S. Lewis and the Demons that Drove Him.

And for what it's worth, it's okay to feel sad about Robin Williams being so depressed he felt suicide was the only option, AND feel sad about the atrocities in Iraq, AND feel sad about the fighting in Gaza. One doesn't negate the others. And we SHOULD be sad about Robin Williams, even if we don't have a tearful emotional response to it, just as we should be sad when anyone commits suicide-- or honestly, when anything bad happens to anyone. All humans are connected in ways we can't understand, and a tragedy that affects one person has ripple effects that touch all of us. It hurts everyone when something bad happens, even if it doesn't happen to us directly.

2. We had an earthquake the other day! It was 5.4, but only lasted a couple of seconds. It was actually over before I even realized what was happening. Not nearly as impressive as the one a few years ago in the DC area-- which I was also there for. Fun stuff!

3. As we sat down to dinner the other day, Faith said, "Daddy, you want a beer?" And then she went and got him one. We've trained her well.

4. This is seriously one of the funniest things I've ever read.

5. Look what we spotted on our way to my workout group yesterday! He (or she?) was actually pretty big-- a good six inches across, I'd say.

6. This is pretty funny: Should you be worried about Ebola? A helpful chart. (Language warning.)

Ha! But, for serious, here's some good info: Ten Things You Really Should Know About Ebola.

7. And finally, I saw this at the hospital (no worries, it was just a checkup for the baby):

At first I was super confused, like, um, is this a common mistake? I feel like if people are drinking from toilets, the lack of water filtration is the least of their problems...

But then an architect friend of mine gave this helpful response: "You are required to post these signs if you have a gray water system. Even as we buy them we think it's ridiculous!!" 

THE MORE YOU KNOW!

Head back to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes! 

seven quick takes friday-- er, saturday: ed. 21

1. I found the most awesome website for free printables.  I love printables, because, um... free decor!  Check out some of these:

So cute, right?

2. This article is amazing: On call. It perfectly describes being on call as a pediatric resident. Read it!!

3. Check it out-- there's a new meteor shower (the Camelopardalids-- yes, that's the real name) tonight that will be visible over North America. Wish I could see it.

4. My geeky, pun-loving self giggled at this:

5. This little exchange happened a few days ago:

Faith: (holding out an empty spoon) "Daddy, want some baby food?"

Jack: "Sure!" (pretends to eat it)

Faith: (watches with poorly disguised malicious delight)

Jack: "Mmm, yum! All done!"

Faith: "Ha! It was POOP!"

6. Have you ever heard of putting peanut butter on a bee sting? One of my patients was coated in peanut butter by his school nurse after he stumbled on an angry hive. I'd never heard of it, but apparently it's a thing. Apparently you can put a bunch of different stuff on a bee sting, if you're so inclined. (I'd recommend cold compresses, but whatever floats your boat!)

7. I'm seriously considering chopping my hair off. Like, really short. Like, long-pixie-cut short. Kinda like these:

What do you think? Cute, right? Am I crazy? Would I regret it? Would I hate it? Would I love it? Can I pull it off?

Head over to Conversion Diary for more quick takes!