Autumn Activities

Autumn is, by far, my favorite season.  Here in New England, we are graced with some of the most spectacular displays of foliage in the entire country.  I love everything about this season - the holidays, the smells, the colors, and the festivals.

Aari and I tackled a great fall play dough recipe via Amanda Morgan on The Organized Parent.

This dough is amazing!  We're still going strong with it two weeks later.  The smell is fabulous! Every time we open the bag, all the fantastic scents of Autumn envelope the senses!

Aaralyn was interested in helping at the stove, which is new for us.  She's always been my helper at the counter but she was insistent that she wanted to stir the ingredients while they were warming.  

This was a great teaching moment for me.  I showed her the red light which indicates that a burner is on and that the stove it hot.  We talked about only touching the spoon we are stirring with and only going near the stove with mom or dad.  She was very cautious and conscientious of the fact that it was "too hot!"

This dough came together well and smells good enough to eat!  I always prefer homemade play dough to the store bought.  I feel as though it stays pliable longer and if it's getting a little dried out, it's easy to add a teaspoon of vegetable oil and knead it in to recondition it.

Aari kept herself busy with her farm puzzle while she was waiting for the dough to cool.

The dough was easy to knead and just filled the house with the lovely aroma of fall spices!

We created a lot of 'snakes' and 'spaghetti' with our Play Doh tools.

If you love Autumn as much as we do - make this dough!  You won't regret it!

Paper Boats

Yesterday, Aari was watching Curious George on PBS and one of the characters made a replica of an Egyptian boat or raft for a history project. She kept talking about the boat so it gave me the idea to make paper boats with her and let her experiment with them. I used plain white printer paper to make the boat. I filled a 9 x 13 baking dish with some water and a few drops of blue food coloring for effect.

The first boat, Aari sank almost immediately. I was quickly folding back-up boats in the meantime and let her explore them in the water. She learned fairly quickly that she needed to handle them gingerly or they would take on water and sink. She was very animated during her exploration and especially liked the blue water.

Winter Tidings!

Winter has arrived! The mild weather we have been having, however, is totally reminiscent of spring or late fall. Aari enjoyed the holidays, as did we. We visited with family, friends and loved ones and have been enjoying a nice, quiet family vacation at home to bring in the new year. Aari has been blessed with many beautiful hand crafted toys ~ blocks, gnomes, wooden people for her dollhouse, a beautiful barn and a bazillion animals! She has been busy from sunup to sundown each day exploring all of her new spoils. Aari's dramatic and imaginative play has expanded to a whole new level and she has been acting out scenes with all of her little figurines. It's fun to hide around the corner and just listen to her banter ~ she has such a great imagination! I am looking forward to the snowy days ahead, filled with crafts and painting, building with our new blocks, creating snow folk and seeing what mischief our little wooden gnomes are going to get into! It's going to be a fun-filled winter!

Potty Training: The Saga

Well, we've begun the process of potty training and day one did not turn out exactly as expected.  Quite a few hiccups and maybe even a catastrophe but I've renewed my hope in the situation and am prepared to dive into it with vigor!
Being a former preschool teacher and having successfully potty trained many children over the years, you'd think it would be easy with my own, right?  Think again.  I'm emotionally tied to my daughter, which is usually a good thing, when potty training, however...not so good.  Today was a roller coaster of emotions ranging from excitement to disappointment.
I was excited to begin potty training with Aaralyn because we have a low key week and not much planned in the way of leaving the house.  So, I figured...why not try now?  She's showing many signs of readiness from telling us she has to go, or has just gone to seeking out privacy while pooping.  She has sat on her potty chair many times before with her diaper on, without, etc...just to get a feel for it.  I guess delving into the situation head on was not right for her, though.
This is another good example of "go with your gut!"  I kept having these little tugs in my solar plexus and was feeling so anxious for her because she seemed uncomfortable with the whole thing but I was trying to just power through it, stay positive and keep reinforcing that we are using the potty now.  She was fine when we were just doing our scheduled "trying" sessions every 15-30 minutes or so but when she actually had to go poop, the situation turned catastrophic quickly.
So, I'm starting fresh on the whole potty training adventure.
#1 - we're going to get a new potty chair that is more comfortable for her.
#2 - I'm seeking advice from one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Pantley in her book The No Cry Potty Training Solution (which I immediately downloaded to my kindle app after the catastrophe)
#3 - I'm taking the gentle approach with her because that's what I know works and what she responds best to
I realized that even though Aari has a very strong little will, she has a gentle soul and is very sensitive.  She needs time to process things in her own way.  So, I'm backing off and will be slowly introducing potty training in a new way that is best suited to her.
I had a friend tell me today to chillax! she's not going to be going to college in diapers!  I totally had to laugh at that and take a step back.  When I did, I realized that it was me putting unreasonable expectations on her and probably too much pressure right out of the gate.  Potty training isn't going to happen overnight in this household and it's just something I have to deal with.  I need to do what's best for Aaralyn and that means, for her, learning this new set of skills is going to take time. So, patience, a virtue that I have very little of, is going to be my new found best friend through this endeavor.  Wish me luck!  I'll keep posting along the way!

Mindfulness

I often have trouble staying in the moment and flit from one thing to another worrying about what is coming up or what I have to do instead of just being in the moment.  I've begun to realize that not being mindful and present has caused me to miss out on opportunities of bonding and interaction with my daughter.
So, in the interest of enjoying every moment with her in the present - I'm working on practicing mindfulness in my parenting.  For instance, yesterday when Aari was getting ready to nap in my bed, she wanted to snuggle on me. I found my mind wandering and wanting her to fall asleep so I could check my email, throw laundry in, put away the dishes, etc...I stopped myself and focused on this adorable little being that was attached to me like a little monkey and put all else out of my mind.  It was the perfect bonding moment and I found that she drifted off to sleep so much easier because she wasn't struggling to get my full attention by climbing all over me whilst I was thinking about everything BUT her.
Susan Salzberg states that mindfulness is "the quality of fullness to attention, immediacy, non-distraction.  In that sense, it is the key to life."  Susan gives some practical examples of ways to begin practicing mindfulness in your life.  One of her suggestions, that really resonated with me, was to begin by being mindful of your breath.  She says that by coming back to the breath, over and over again, by observing it without judgement or any opinion, you connect to that moment without jumping ahead to the next.
The Mindful Parent site's message is to "Experience the Joy of Connecting with our Children."  I am excited to explore this site and share in others' mindful experiences as parents in the hopes to be present in my parenting journey.

Charlie's Soap

I've made the switch to Charlie's Soap for all our mountains of laundry!  I liked the Rockin' Green detergent but I seemed to need a lot of it to clean the cloth diapers and I just wanted to switch to a detergent that I could use for everything.
Charlie's Soap is 100% biodegradable - which the hippie in me loves. :)  There's nothing like saving the earth whilst doing a load of laundry!  Makes me want to throw on my Wonder Woman costume for the whole affair.  Now that would be a sight!
I prepped the machine (per the instructions on the Charlie's Soap canister) and successfully washed a load of cloth diapers and am happy with the results.  I'm working on some sheets now...so we'll see how it works on larger loads.  You supposedly only need 1 TBS per load!  Which I find amazing!  If it really works as well as they claim - it will save a lot of $$$$ in the long run as well.  We all know how expensive detergent can be.
It is also supposed to dissolve well in cold water so I could even go back to doing cold/cold cycles!  Another energy-efficient bonus!
I'll post some updates soon...

Vinegar as Fabric Softener

I would like to thank my dear friend Amy, who blogs at earthwisemama.wordpress.com, for her suggestion to use distilled white vinegar in the rinse cycle to help strip the stink out of cloth diapers and also as a fabric softener for regular laundry!
I had stopped using fabric softener some time ago because I have sensitive skin and it was causing me some issues, not to mention the environmental factor and all the funky chemicals and perfumes that are contained in most softeners.  So, we had scratchy towels, clothes, underwear, etc....
I have a high efficiency (he) front load washing machine, which I love!  I have been adding the vinegar to the fabric softener compartment in the dispenser drawer and it has been working wonders on the cloth diapers to remove the leftover stink and also at softening our regular laundry.  For those of you that have a front loader, you know that the tub can get that mildewy smell from being left damp after washing.  I haven't noticed it at all with the vinegar.  So, I think it's cleaning the wash bin as well!  Bonus!
I actually enjoyed folding the towels last night because they were nice and fluffy and soft.  The laundry doesn't have the perfume smell that it would from regular softener but it does smell fresh and clean!  This is a cost effective, environmentally friendly way to soften fabrics.  You can purchase a gallon of distilled white vinegar at Stop and Shop for $2.99  :)
Thanks, Amy!