by Torrie Oglesby | Aug 18, 2015 | Family + Relationships
It’s a big, amazing, colorful world and from the moment your little ones can crawl their curiosity leads them to discover it. While it’s great to allow our little ones time to explore it’s also important to teach them boundaries. Boundaries help with protection, preparation, and gives your child a sense of responsibility. Whether you need them to sit quietly at home while you take a call, sit quietly at church, or to stay in one area while out in public, it’s important that our little ones learn the value of boundaries and it’s even more important that we as parents teach them to respect the boundaries given to them. There’s one method in my household that saves the day, every day, and that is blanket time. Here’s some tips and tricks on how to make blanket time an effective tool for teaching boundaries.
Blanket time- A simple method of getting your kids to listen and stay in one area until mom says it’s time to move on. Grab a nice size blanket, big enough to give them a little freedom but small enough to contain them and teach them about staying in a specific area.
Tips and Tricks to succeed at Blanket time:
- Entertainment
Now sitting without an activity is torture, even to us adults! Gather some books, puzzles, flash cards coloring books, counting activities, alphabet activities, and even snacks so that you can set them up to succeed. Let them know that they are allowed to play with anything on the blanket and that it has to stay within the blanket.
- Use a timer
This allows for the kids to participate by hitting the timer and makes them feel like they are involved! It also gives them a physical look at how much longer they have until blanket time is done.
- Start small
Now, I do not start my 1 year off by asking him to sit on the blanket for 30 minutes, that’s not possible for his age nor is it fair to start out at where my 3 year old is just getting to. Start small. My 1 year old’s time goal is 5 minutes and then I let him go run around and play and come back as he pleases while my 3 year old finishes her last 25 minutes. Eventually your little ones will work their way up to an hour or even two, but start small.
- Reward
CELEBRATE! A little body staying that still for that long is an achievement! Celebrate with stickers, suckers, a trip to the park, or however you choose! Just make sure you let them know how proud you are of them for sitting still and staying in their boundary.
With love and big smiles,
torrie
by Nadya Logan | Jul 8, 2015 | Family + Relationships
It’s summer time! And what better way to cool down other than spending the day at your local swimming pool? But are you aware of the problems that may arise from swimming a pool?
- If a pool looks like it’s clean, then it’s obviously clean.
Fiction! In most cases, you would be correct. But there have been instances where dangerous microorganisms have been present in a seemingly clean pool. If the pool reeks of chemicals or you see something fishy, don’t take the chance.
- I can get sick from swimming in a pool.
Fact! According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 1,326 reported to be affected by recreational water-associated outbreaks during 2009-2010. Swallowing, breathing, or having any form of physical contact with contaminated water can spread a variety of illnesses.
- If I can smell a strong, chemical-like odor coming from the pool, then the pool is super clean.
Fiction! If you can smell the chemicals coming from the pool, it’s not because the pool was recently disinfected. The smell is a product of a mixture of chlorine and other containments that form from unhealthy chloramines growing in the water. In short, a well-maintained pool has little-to-no odor.
- It takes time for chlorine to kill all of the germs that may reside in a pool.
Fact! Even though most germs are killed within minutes, germs, such as Cryptosporidium, can live in a pool days after the pool is treated.
All in all, if it smells bad or looks bad, then 9/10 it’s probably bad. Keep safe as you have a fun summer.
by Torrie Oglesby | Jul 6, 2015 | Family + Relationships
Fun like This.
It’s summertime and because of that we are spending a lot of time out and about having fun in our city! Last week we were at the sprinkle water park and so many kids were there. My three year old daughter, Journey, is very social and doesn’t know a stranger, however she’s also very content with playing by herself. In a room filled with people you can sometimes find her make believing all by herself and having a blast. I often push her to play with other people and tell her that we play by ourselves when we’re at home and we get to play with others when we’re out and usually she agrees and runs off to find someone to play with. Well on this particular day she had a different view.
I called her over and said “Hey, how about we play with the other kids while we’re here.” And she simply said, “But I’m having fun like this.”
As much as I want her to be social, I also want her to be okay with being alone. In this moment she reminded me that it’s perfectly okay to do your own thing in the middle of the crowd. That being alone isn’t wrong and that being able to be your own best friend and “have fun like this” is just as important as making friends. May we all be as content and confident with solitude the way my three year old daughter was in that moment.
Learning from motherhood,
torrie.
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