Category: Totally Tatum

Today we were in art class. What made it special? Relating to Tatum. Most of the kids in the class are accompanied by their moms, and they also are daycare children. There is a certain vibe with these moms, and I’m not judging. NOT AT ALL…I was there. However, I can attest to the day in day out…EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of the day.

But I thought about what if…

What if I wasn’t with her when she was just wanting to be silly in shades?

Or…when we wanted to try out her new bike. Of course she can’t reach the pedals, so who would push her? Sometimes, we all need a little push, right? Then it is all just like riding a bike. No problem!

Who would play in the sandbox with her? Well, in our house, it is not just any sand. It’s Pink. It’s Magnetic. It’s cleanup-able in no time flat. Love that!

Who would make her coconut pancakes on her Thomas plate?

More importantly, who would be there to talk her through her moments? We have to “practice” kind behavior all day long. If I had her for 2 hours after I picked her up, I would have missed out on every learning opportunity through the day, but moreover, I WOULD NOT HAVE THE RELATIONSHIP EARNED to have her trust me and listen. Nor, probably, would I be as tough. Tough love sometimes has to occur and it is easy to show that when I nurture her with warmth the rest of the time.

So, we practice. We practice not “running away!” in the parking lot when I leave her hand. We practice showing compassion and kindness to others when it is appropriate. We practice giving appreciation to those who do kind things for us. We practice not whining a request, but asking like a “big girl.” We practice sitting still and listening when someone is speaking. We don’t punish if it doesn’t happen, we re-do, redirect, try again, and celebrate the success.

Now…that is what I call a PAYOFF!

Thank you God for this opportunity.

 

 

I just adore them.

And she did not want to leave

I truly pray for them to have one of their own. These two are the most loving people and they are ready to dote on a little Tot. In the meantime, they sure love to be with Tatum. They even offered to let me leave so they could play with her. Hmmmmm…:-)

 

Learning….

The simplest of things can make the most incredible learning opportunities.

Starbucks bottles, straws and corks make for fun in the kitchen. Also, they build fine motor skills (but that is just a serendipity) Then it was upstairs for using the marker on learning A. A is for Apple, and then counting 1, 2, 3. She loves feeling so powerful with this marking device. 

I then decided to purchase alphabet stamps. Another fun way to learn and play with letters.

Remember Mr. Potato Head? Well, he’s in the bag. She could carry it into my room and create craziness with hands, feet, hats, eyes, and mouth in various places. And…again (fine motor skills is a bonus!)

And the topper offer? Lacing the necklace with the ABC’s!

First day of reading for 20 minutes with a day.

Now, this is really a no-brainer for the Tot, but the library has provided a fun game board and prizes at the 15 and 30 day marks. She points to the first day and says we are on our way!!! 
We started today with the mini books in her Sesame Street box. She loves the size since they fit in her Tot hands and we she can walk around with the box.

Before, I never used to think about how much we read in a day, but now that there is a “contest” and a time associated, I have a bit of anxiety of getting it in. The irony of it all.

 

Fear is an interesting phenomenon. My mind raced with all of the potential issues that could have occurred when traveling with Tatum. The brain can actually start creating a pseudo-reality from just our own thoughts. They feed on the fear of the unknown and grow into a monumental truth. That describes me worried about traveling with Tatum.

How did I overcome it?

Avoidance.. then, procrastination. Then, lots of research on how to do it gracefully. Then, prayer. THEN……

I just did it.

The first thing I did was prepare everything in my mind. I created lists, read blogs, shopped. The best thing I could think of was to buy many books, and Savers came to the rescue. Then, lots of snacks, a Thomas DVD, and then just pens and paper with stickers.

We arrived with plenty of time to spare (which of course stressed me out). She was so excited to see planes, and I just focused on that we’d be riding in this wonderful bird in the sky.

While waiting, I had to keep her occupied since I had to lug everything around if she left the area. This meant I had to dig into the treasure chest of the airplane surprises! Yarg…But, I did. We went through about 5 books waiting to board. Oh well. What else could I do?

 

Finally when we boarded, I could feel it. Their eyes said, “NO DON’T SIT HERE”, but their mouths said, “What a DOLL!” So, I grabbed the seat with a nice single guy of course. He comforted her the whole way. WE had to wait F.O.R.E.V.E.R to take off, so we kept counting the planes taking off and “going fast!”

Taking off, FAST!!! Then finally. Comfort and Happiness

Arriving was awesome as she felt the bump and speed of the landing.  Tatum never had any fears going on the plane. She did not have the precedent of what could go wrong or what could happen. We humans create these fears and then we water them with our thoughts. My relaxed attitude and my preparation with prayer created an awesome ride.

I learned so much about overcoming fears that weekend. Our brains are finite and fallible. They can play tricks on us, and we fall prey to this. The only way to overcome and conquer fears is to face them head on like David faced Goliath. David had the force of God in his heart and on his team. Yep, that’s the right plan.

 

The Tot has a blue toe. A bottle met her foot and they made friends. Unfortunately, the bottle was glass and it hit her toe pretty hard. The friendship did not last because her toe turned blue and this made her blue as well.

This was the day of the SUPER BOWL, so instead of watching it, I had to “pea” her toe. More blue moments from Tot, but she is healing fast sans the toenail. I think that has few days left.

 

 

She seems to have many in her life. Is it because she’s so darn adorable? Or is it because most of my friends have boy kiddos. Both. Interestingly, they have two responses to her.

1. Don’t take my train..It’s mine…That is my toy… Hands off. etc….

2. Complete and total hugarama. (she glances at me and her eyes say, “mom..really?”)

Then there’s Jack. Amy, my dear friend has a little guy named Jack. Tatum is in love with him! She wants to know where Jack is, will Jack be there…etc. He is quite the cutie.

And he owns a Thomas train. This is such a bonus. But….she is thinking…”Get your hands of my baby!”

Thank you, Jack. 

Of course, Robert is probably going to win out because he has the coolest Thomas hat. This got her eye.

And then Jennie captured her ear with Thomas and the 10 Balloons.

The great thing about playdates is mommy does get a tad bit of adult interaction, but more importantly, we, the parental units, get to navigate our childs’ needs to HAVE IT or I WANT IT NOW. Until our kids are faced with these opportunities to practice life skills, they won’t learn until they are older. I’d rather have Tatum have the tools to be polite and gracious NOW rather than when she is in school. So I welcome BEING PRESENT when the other kids act out on her or she is impolite. Then, I can guide her through it instead of having it be a discipline issue later on.