May 09, 2012

Gleaning some mommy wisdom

I love getting advice from other moms! I'm constantly trying to glean as much as I can from all the awesome women around me....and sometimes I get the advice third or fourth hand, which usually just proves that it's even MORE awesome and should REALLY be taken into account.

Just today I was thinking about three things that I'm so grateful I "adopted" as my own:

"Hands on the tires" ( wish I could think of who I got this one from...if its you then claim it!): When Ransom gets out of the car, and I set him down on the ground I make him put both hands on the tire next to me while I get the diaper bag or whatever else out of the car. Then when I'm ready he gets to take my hand and we walk to safety. I love this! For one thing I don't have to worry about him running out into traffic ( it didn't take Ransom long to learn this one and seems to think its pretty fun, I've had to stop and tell him "no" a few times when he's removed a hand for whatever reason...so I could see that it might take a little "training"...but for the most part he seems to love touching the tire. ) For another thing, now when I get Ransom out of his stroller he puts his hands on the back tire of the jogging stroller too! I find this really hilarious! My dad says that he'll be good at getting police searches one day, but I think its the perfect solution to a safety/multitasking problem.

"Kid Scissors" today I cut up Ransom's chick-fil-a nuggets with a pair of kids scissors that I keep in my bag. Its especially awesome when traveling, but scissors are THE way to cut up kids food! I'd been knife and forking it for almost a year when Lindsay mentioned that this was the fast/easy way that our mutual friend/mother of three- Liz cut up all three of her kids food!! I've never gone back!! And having a blunt pair of scissors in my bag for any time use...well, perfect!

"Blanket time", lots of parents do this from an early age and its part of Babywise book 2 training if you're interested...But I was just not down for this particular "discipline" when Ransom was smaller...But now that he's older and has a lot of toddler energy to burn, it seemed both necessary and been pretty easy to implement a time of day when he has to sit on his quilt and play for a 20-30 min period of time. When we first started he haaaaated it, ( If he got off the blanket I would tell him "no" and put him back on the blanket, repeat and add spankings or whatever form of punishment you want if you so desire)... but then he started to actually ASK for blanket time if we hadn't already done it! I think it has promoted his imaginative play time because he has to think of ways to entertain himself with the toys that I give him ( I usually give two or three things to play with, plus some books). I now do blanket time while I'm in the shower and I don't have to worry about him running off and getting into trouble.


Are there any things that you've noticed other parents doing that you thought were pretty cool and you've stored away for yourself or started to implement? I'd love to hear them!

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