Teacher Tom: The Best Game Ever

Teacher Tom: The Best Game Ever

Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog, the Tale of 3 Little Dachshunds

S3 is what the extended family calls them, but we just call them our furry babies. If you get a holiday or birthday card from us, you will get some paw prints along with the usual salutations. If you come within a hundred feet of our property, even if you are just driving by on your way to somewhere else, they will alert us. If a squirrel or (Heaven forbid) a rabbit shows themselves on our lawn, their chorus of woof woofery will echo. They are our constant soundtrack. 

They can tell you what time it is by the urgency of their bark (time to EAT). They are smart when needed and lazy the rest of the time. I swear they are a cat/dog cross-species breed. They love to spoon and dig in the yard (not fun if they find a mole or grubs) depending on their mood. 

They let me put silly costumes on them for Halloween and I give them frosty paws doggie ice cream treats on their birthday (yes, complete with party hats!). 

We are in love with each other, for better or for worse (sometimes the oldest one eats poop-blech!!) and we wouldn't want it any other way.

The Buffet BOMB!!

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You would think a "buffet" would be a good choice for a family with a toddler to grab something quick while away from home and on the way to somewhere else. My main priorities when dining out are loud backgrounds so my toddler isn't the loudest one there and quick service because his attention span and willingness to sit still wither and DIE within twenty minutes (MAX). A buffet answers those two priorities in spades, so it should've been awesome...it was, how do you say "effin horrible!!??". 

Globs of brown and fried everything and no known origin of the food or recent health inspections left me with little options for B. Of course he wanted "soda" which we've told him is an "adult" beverage (horrible, I know) because you can self- serve and mix concoctions (as taught to him by my neighbors heathen child) he thinks it's a-friggin-maaaazing!! Plus, there are lots of interesting people to look at and talk about in a loud toddler voice "why does that lady have a beard?"  for example (yikes) and rows of food he can just grab on a whim. It was a total flop!

We all had severe "cow tongue" for the next twelve hours, clearly from consuming a months worth of sodium. 

Toddler Sick Day

Waiting patiently to see the doctor is very  difficult. "Can I take my shoes off?"

Let's look at the pretty mural of a tree frog. Say "ribbit!" 

Can mommy make a balloon out of the rubber gloves in the patient room like you did at the dentist? Why are the gloves blue? 

B woke the house up at 1:00am with a wheezing barking cough. It was scary and I'm sure painful for him. Poor little guy. We calmed him and the cough and settled back to sleep (after an hour) and B woke up this morning with just a runny nose. I had already made up my mind to call our pediatrician when the office opened, even though B seemed miraculously better by morning.

I felt almost as if I was telling a tale instead of reenacting our nightmare scare, until the doc literally mimicked the exact cough / wheeze combo B had displayed in the wee hours. The diagnosis: croup. I was not making up tales, it was primarily a nighttime ailment and a simple one dose steroid in the doctors office would be the only thing B needed to get well. That sounded like a magic trick to me, but, a few hours later B happily laid down for his nap and there wasn't a cough in sight. 

Has your toddler had any ailments this season that required a doctors office visit?

Water Bead Sensory Play

Squish, squeeze, smoosh and pour. Water beads from the local craft store entertained B for over thirty minutes, that's like hours of entertainment on an adult scale. I bought purple because they were on sale, but they had a rainbow of colors including clear. 

A mixing bowl and some kitchen tools laid out on a towel for B and I was free to cut and prep dinner. It was one if the best/easiest/ cheapest evenings we've had in awhile. Thank you water beads!

Oh, and they are pretty too! I dare you not to try your own sensory play in the mixing bowl. It's something we will definity be doing again!

What screen-free "dinner prep" activities do you do with your toddler?

Toddler putt-putt

Open your stance, check your grip, tap it with your putter slowly aaaaand score!!! Yippee!! We kept adding levels of difficulty to his putt-putt course. Through chair and table legs, across train tracks, over a stuffed animal. We had fun just playing and making things up in our basement play room. The weather has not been conducive to outdoor play lately so we've really had to put our thinking caps on. Developing gross motor skills, creativity and strengthening our relationship are always in season.

Putt-putt anyone?

Are there any games you've played with your toddler that you had fun with too?

Sea Glass Memory Jar

We spent a perfect weather day on the beach of Lake Erie. It was very therapeutic to feel the sand, sea glass and stones beneath weary feet. The swishing, washing and rhythmic back and forth of the waves was mesmerizing.  It all started out with a rock skipping lesson from father to son (VERY serious work) and bloomed into the beginning of a "collection". 

This was the final product: 

There was the cleaning, sorting and the selecting process, all happily done by B when we got home. This meaningful work gave him the chance to be useful and creative simultaneously, it was a perfect end to our family beach day.

Washing

Sorting

Selecting

Have you started any collections with your toddler?