Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group
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...And Other Things I've Learned as a Parent in the Past Seven Years...
There are things that the parenting books don't tell you. Sure, they give you helpful hints on how to keep your children alive--at least for the most part, but they rarely touch on the monumental events and discoveries that are looked upon as rites of passages in parenthood.
Being a mom for about 7.5 years to a 7.5 year-old and a 13 month-old respectively, I have learned so many things on which many books and other well-intentioned parents neglected to mention.
My contribution is as follows, but in the event that I remember more, I shall continue to add. Please feel free to tack on your own important knowledge so that others may nod in agreement and understanding and learn more about these well-kept secrets.
1. Cheerios and other such cereals that toddlers tote around, if left to sit and ferment for a few months, say under a chair, morph into perhaps what could be deemed as the latest in innovative military weaponry. I have had the displeasure of treading on a so-called Cheerio circle that had shrunken to a little brown crisp with pointed shrapnel-like edges. Where it appeared from, whether under a chair or behind the couch I do not know, but I required a thick gauze pad and antibiotic cream to quell the bleeding injury.
Kix, Corn Flakes, Life cereal, and Wheaties all seem to hold similar petrifying properties and should be avoided at all costs...unless you care to have someone to your home whose company you don't necessarily enjoy. You can litter the floor with the shriveled little cereal rocks, ask you guest(s) to remove their shoes and watch the fun begin. If you feel the need to be more discretionary, you can strategically place each morsel so that inevitably your company will step painfully on one while using your bathroom, admiring your photographs and/or art, or perhaps trying to steal your Wii (This has happened...don't think it unthinkable...seriously).
2. You can tell the worth of a pet by how he / she interacts with your children. This in itself may seem self-explanatory, however, I must assure you that simply because your beloved Spot or Bessie does not maul your child to death, does not necessarily mean that you have a 'keeper'.
For instance:
We have a cat that, since my oldest was two, has been her most loyal and constant playmate. This cat, who is nearing six years of age has volunteered himself to be placed into a babydoll stroller and slammed repeatedly into the wall. After each crash, he'd shake off and jump right back into the baby stroller to be given another harrowing ride.
He has been painted yellow.
He has been dressed up as a princess, a pirate, and a clown. He has been a patron at many a tea party.
I was unaware that cats possessed lips...but since my daughter made him up fully with some of my best lipstick, I became privy to the fact of cat lips.
Who knew?
My youngest now follows him around attempting to rip his fur out and bite his tail.
His patience is unending. I believe that he knows they are children...because when I play with him, he tries to tear my arm off. They can do anything they want and he sits there purring. Of course, they are fully supervised when he is in their presence...at least when my youngest is 'playing' with him...so that I can intervene if necessary.
Our dogs as well seem to understand that these smaller humans need more delicate handling than the larger ones do.
When in the backyard with one or both children, my two dogs allow themselves to be ridden like horses. They allow themselves to be squirted with water with upholding the utmost patience.
I have seen both dogs keep a constant watch on my youngest, as if they were her protectors.
Bodyguards.
Yet when I play with them in basically the same manner, they get wild and crazy...in a way that could knock children down, though they wouldn't dare try it in the presence of the children.
...And for now, I'll let someone else do the schooling. I am sure there are many scenarios and instances that some have gone through that could teach us all a thing or two...something that the books don't dare mention....I'm sure I have more, but I don't want to make one singular post too long....
And there are so many more years left of experiences yet to be had....
Who wants to add to the knowledge?
There are things that the parenting books don't tell you. Sure, they give you helpful hints on how to keep your children alive--at least for the most part, but they rarely touch on the monumental events and discoveries that are looked upon as rites of passages in parenthood.
Being a mom for about 7.5 years to a 7.5 year-old and a 13 month-old respectively, I have learned so many things on which many books and other well-intentioned parents neglected to mention.
My contribution is as follows, but in the event that I remember more, I shall continue to add. Please feel free to tack on your own important knowledge so that others may nod in agreement and understanding and learn more about these well-kept secrets.
1. Cheerios and other such cereals that toddlers tote around, if left to sit and ferment for a few months, say under a chair, morph into perhaps what could be deemed as the latest in innovative military weaponry. I have had the displeasure of treading on a so-called Cheerio circle that had shrunken to a little brown crisp with pointed shrapnel-like edges. Where it appeared from, whether under a chair or behind the couch I do not know, but I required a thick gauze pad and antibiotic cream to quell the bleeding injury.
Kix, Corn Flakes, Life cereal, and Wheaties all seem to hold similar petrifying properties and should be avoided at all costs...unless you care to have someone to your home whose company you don't necessarily enjoy. You can litter the floor with the shriveled little cereal rocks, ask you guest(s) to remove their shoes and watch the fun begin. If you feel the need to be more discretionary, you can strategically place each morsel so that inevitably your company will step painfully on one while using your bathroom, admiring your photographs and/or art, or perhaps trying to steal your Wii (This has happened...don't think it unthinkable...seriously).
2. You can tell the worth of a pet by how he / she interacts with your children. This in itself may seem self-explanatory, however, I must assure you that simply because your beloved Spot or Bessie does not maul your child to death, does not necessarily mean that you have a 'keeper'.
For instance:
We have a cat that, since my oldest was two, has been her most loyal and constant playmate. This cat, who is nearing six years of age has volunteered himself to be placed into a babydoll stroller and slammed repeatedly into the wall. After each crash, he'd shake off and jump right back into the baby stroller to be given another harrowing ride.
He has been painted yellow.
He has been dressed up as a princess, a pirate, and a clown. He has been a patron at many a tea party.
I was unaware that cats possessed lips...but since my daughter made him up fully with some of my best lipstick, I became privy to the fact of cat lips.
Who knew?
My youngest now follows him around attempting to rip his fur out and bite his tail.
His patience is unending. I believe that he knows they are children...because when I play with him, he tries to tear my arm off. They can do anything they want and he sits there purring. Of course, they are fully supervised when he is in their presence...at least when my youngest is 'playing' with him...so that I can intervene if necessary.
Our dogs as well seem to understand that these smaller humans need more delicate handling than the larger ones do.
When in the backyard with one or both children, my two dogs allow themselves to be ridden like horses. They allow themselves to be squirted with water with upholding the utmost patience.
I have seen both dogs keep a constant watch on my youngest, as if they were her protectors.
Bodyguards.
Yet when I play with them in basically the same manner, they get wild and crazy...in a way that could knock children down, though they wouldn't dare try it in the presence of the children.
...And for now, I'll let someone else do the schooling. I am sure there are many scenarios and instances that some have gone through that could teach us all a thing or two...something that the books don't dare mention....I'm sure I have more, but I don't want to make one singular post too long....
And there are so many more years left of experiences yet to be had....
Who wants to add to the knowledge?
I have never seen some of these feats, but know that they are capable of this behavior. I have found my cell phone in the butter at the very back of the fridge, I have found full bags of trash in different parts of my house, when the only child in the house was a 7 month old in a walker.
I have learned that when a bottle says child proof, it only means that it is challenging enough to entertain a child long enough to where they figure out how to open the bottle.
I have been privy to some of this unnatural strength, where I caught my one year old opening an oak toy box long enough for my 2 year old to climb inside. Also, plug covers are like little blinking lights that say "Hey, over here!" to a toddler. They provide NO protection between a superhuman child and a power outlet, only entertainment. After broken finger nails and raw fingertips have detered me from pulling the little buggers out, my children seem to pull them out and put them back in as if they were one of their brightly colored sorting toys.
All I know is that as parents, we must all stick together. Otherwise, we will certainly be overtaken by these small wonders. Good Luck to all. :)
DLR77, I thought I had a patient dog! My son's newest thing is to drag her around by her collar. He has put shoes on her (which I just about died laughing at). Although since you have dogs I'm surprised you have the rock cereal problem. One of my dogs tolerates my son just so she can clean up after him!
I'm going to have to think about this, I'm sure I've got more stories.