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Preschool Is On My Mind Again

As Dylan’s third birthday approaches, I am thinking more and more about preschool. The current theme of my preschool – related thoughts has shifted from “which preschool” to “whether or not he will attend preschool”. We still have plenty of time to research and weigh our options, because if we decide that Dylan will attend preschool he would not start until January. There are still two preschools in our area that I plan to visit with Dylan, one is right in town and the other is about a half hour away. One is Montessori, and the other is Waldorf. Of … Continue reading →

Designing A Preschool Village

Sometimes I’m a bit of a grouch. So went yesterday’s grouchy blog, in which I ranted a little bit against the idea of the playdate. So if I’m against playdates, what am I for? Yes, I want my daughter to play with other children. However, I also think that the first home for a small child is within the family. There’s a growing concern about peer-orientation among children, and I must say that Gordon Neufeld’s book Hold On To Your Kids is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. In it, he describes the need to … Continue reading →

Preschoolers and Happy Meals

It’s official… I’m old. An impromptu trip to McDonald’s with my preschooler late yesterday assured me of this fact. My daughter is partial to Ronald’s Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich and rarely ever requests a Happy Meal unless the toy is too good to resist. So when we entered the fast food giant yesterday and she saw the huge Happy Meal display containing dozens of stuffed animals, she just about fainted. She is the queen of fluffy fake pets, after all. The reason for the colorful menagerie of mini fluffballs: McDonald’s is celebrating the 30th birthday of its iconic Happy Meals. … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Month in Review: August 2008

Isn’t it crazy the way babies grow so quickly? It seems that you just get used to one stage and boom they are already into another. Tonight, were busy getting the household all set for my eldest child’s first day of second grade. My two younger ones are excited and want to start school, too. It will be a busy month. Don’t worry about the missing last week of blogs. I’ve gotten quite a few questions about where I have been. The Baby Blog tends to go on hiatus the last week of the month. That may change in the … Continue reading →

My Experience with Amniocentesis

I had an amniocentesis with my second baby. The test was offered to us after we got a positive result on the alpha fetoprotein blood test. The results came back showing an increased risk of Down’s Syndrome. The funny thing is that I didn’t want the blood test in the first place. When I was pregnant with my first daughter, my doctor had actually advised against the test. He told me the test had a high rate of false positives. After six years of infertility and six weeks of bed rest in early pregnancy, he felt that I didn’t need … Continue reading →

A Few Things That I Love About Being Home Based (Part 2): Hanging Out With My Dog

Alright, surely you are reading this post thinking, “well, Traci has finally lost her noodle”. Give me some credit…stay just a bit longer, and hear me out. I am married to a K9 Handler for our county’s Sheriff’s Department. Four days per week, he takes my dog to work with him. As a dog-lover myself, I’ve always been a bit jealous of him. How great would it be to have a job where you get to hang out with your best friend all day? Of course, I could have easily titled this blog, “A Few Things That I Love About … Continue reading →

The Hazards of Distracted Parenting

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Humans can become distracted every now and again. Parents are only human and cannot be hyper focused on their children every second. There is a difference from a moment of distraction and a pattern of it. Be aware of the hazards of distracted parenting. It has become common for people to spend time looking at the screens of their smartphones while they are outside. Some people are recording video, and taking photos, to preserve memories. Smartphones make it easy to share a fun trip to the zoo with a grandmother who lives far away. That scenario can be fun way … Continue reading →

Mastering the Fine Art of Delayed Gratification

My 8-year-old has the patience of… well, an 8-year-old. Actually, on many days her ability to wait without whining or complaining is more on par with a 4-year-old. She’d kill me if she knew I was comparing her to a preschooler.  Then again, I’ll probably die first from having to tolerate her incessant bellyaching each time she is asked to keep her composure while waiting for whatever it is she wants right NOW! And by now, she means the millisecond her request leaves her lips. During my daughter’s last well child check-up I discussed the issue of delayed gratification with … Continue reading →

A Not So Funny Thing Happened Today

As difficult as being a stay at home mom to a toddler and an infant can be, I would not trade it for any other set of circumstances in the world. On days where things are not going so well, it is easy to day dream about what my life might be like if I were working and the boys were at day care. Today, something happened that made it absolutely clear to me that home with my boys is really where my heart is. We were in the car, going home from the grocery store. Dylan was munching on … Continue reading →

The Trouble with Toys

(If I step on these one more time I’m going to…) Actually, it’s not the toys I have trouble with; it’s the child owner who repeatedly neglects to pick-up said playthings despite various forms of yelling, nagging and threatening. Sound familiar? Then, you too can likely relate to that Febreze commercial where the mom places all of her kids’ stuffed animals in the toy box only to find them strewn back on the floor the instant she turns around. How many times have you seen that ad and thought, “That’s so my life”? Not the possessed toy part; rather, the … Continue reading →