Comments (12)

By Mom Unplugged, July 13, 2008 7:54 pm

I flew to Florida today somewhat unexpectedly (not an emergency, but I didn’t expect to be going so soon) and my children stayed behind in Upstate New York with my family. So we did not do our stone Unplugged Project.

I am putting up the Mr. Linky for those who did it. I won’t get there for a while, but I look forward to visiting your projects soon!

Next week’s Unplugged Project theme will be (and I hope I’ll be back to join in):

Glass

Comments (5)

By Mom Unplugged, July 9, 2008 12:07 pm

Thanks so much to all who joined in this week’s Unplugged Project! I haven’t had a chance to visit any of you yet, and I am also behind on my emails.

I am on vacation at my Dad’s house in Upstate New York and am doing more vacationing than blogging (plus the internet connection here is a bit unreliable). I will visit everyone’s project as soon as I can, but for now I am enjoying family and friends.

We survived our cross-country plane trip: it seems that 2 1/2 is a slightly better age for air travel than 1 1/2 was (that’s a relief!). We are also making “potty progress.”

More on all that later, but in the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying your summer and I’ll be checking in when I can.

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, July 2, 2008 10:44 pm

I am officially procrastinating. Instead of packing for our big trip tomorrow (Phoenix by car, then East Coast by air on Friday) I am writing a Very Important Post about…well, hmm…beans?

Perhaps I’ll share a quick idea of what I came up with to help my 2 year-old be entertained during dinner preparation.

I have some wooden trays that some good French knives and serving utensils came in. I kept them because they were so nice, and also because I am a pack rat.

I have never really known what I would do with them, but tonight I brought out my big container of dried beans (that I keep exclusively for play purposes) and the wooden trays, and let my 2 year-old put the beans in the hollows in the trays.

She enjoyed it so much that my other two (6 and 7) arrived on the scene to see what was so fun. Much to my surprise, they asked if they could play too. So all three put beans in different shaped openings in the trays.

Maybe it is the Montessori “training” that makes them love this sort of thing (they have been attending since they were 3). But whatever it is, I was grateful for a bit of peace while I cooked.

Now, what else can I write about? Oh dear, I guess I must go and pack. I may be offline for a day or two while I am in-transit, but I will write when I can, and I will certainly be back for this week’s Unplugged Project (the theme is sky)!

Comments (12)

By Mom Unplugged, July 1, 2008 1:28 pm

The big excitement around here at the moment is the “poTEEE” as my 2 year-old calls it. She has been interested in potties of all sorts from about 18 months on. I have been the one who has been stalling the whole potty training process (or potty “learning,” as they say now).

I am so over the eagerness to be out of diapers that I felt with my first child. Experience has taught me a lot.

Quite frankly, I have learned that diapers are easier. We never have to worry about where the nearest toilet is. We never have to worry about how clean the nearest toilet is. We never have to worry about messy accidents in awkward public places.

But now that she is 2 and a half, I have decided that I really must put my completely selfish attitude aside and take the big potty plunge. After all, I don’t want her to be stashing away some Depends along with her Chemistry textbook in her high school backpack.

The older two learned between 2 and a half and 3. They both wanted to go to “school” (Montessori preschool) and had to be 3 and free of diapers. The incentive of “school” was enough to motivate them and get them with the program in a matter of a day or two.

This time “school” is a bit farther off, so although I am talking up that aspect of things, I have had to be a bit more creative.

The other day we had a “Potty Fiesta” where I moved her little potty to the living room and let her run around bare-bottomed all morning, and with big girl undies on in the afternoon. This is a modified “run around the backyard naked” approach. Since we live on a golf course, I didn’t think it would be seemly to have her running around the backyard naked, even if she is only 2.

I also resorted to bribery: one Skittle for “wee-wee” and two Skittles for “poop.” The older two also get a Skittle treat when she goes, and that has caused them to become a most enthusiastic cheering section!

So far, so good. Accidents have been few and far between. She is very proud, and even came over to tell me out of the blue: “Mama, I’m a poTEEE trained.”

The only challenge I face now is that she has fallen so in love with her little “poTEEE,” that she refuses to go near a big toilet (even with a little seat on it). Any ideas on how to overcome PoTEEE Attachment and broaden the toilet horizons? I really don’t want to be toting the beloved “poTEEE” around with us every time we run an errand!

What tricks have you used to speed the potty process?

Comments (14)

By Mom Unplugged, June 30, 2008 7:26 am

We have had a Wee Enchanted Garden kit in the closet for several years, but had not yet put it together. So that’s what we did this week for the Unplugged Project theme of garden.

The Wee Enchanted Garden is a mini fairy garden in a box. Since we love fairies, it was a fun project, but I think it would be even more fun and very easy to create your own fairy garden without a kit.

This is what came in the kit: a plastic plant saucer, paints in the three primary colors, a paint brush, soil (it feels like a very light seed mix), grass seed, assorted beans (to grow into the “trees”), stones, gravel, little plastic figures (a frog and a rat), some seashells, and a lovely little fairy house made of wood and bark!

First my two oldest children painted the saucer. Since the paints were just yellow, blue, and red, it was a good exercise in color mixing too.

My youngest happily painted with some water colors and, in typical 2 year-old fashion, refused all colors but blue:

Pita, our assistant:

After the paint dried, the real fun began: the planting and arranging.

The children wanted to add a few other treasures to the garden. They disappeared into their rooms and returned with a penny, a marble, and a plastic snake (to eat the fairies?).

One tip: be careful when you water. We used a watering can and flooded it a bit. There is no drainage and the seed soil is very light. Next time we will water by spraying with a spray bottle.

This would be a very easy project to replicate without the kit, although I think that lovely little house makes the kit really wonderful.

+++++++++

Here’s one more garden project idea. This one is more ambitious, but very worthwhile!:

The Children’s Garden

+++++++++

If you joined in this week for garden, then please leave your link in Mr. Linky and a comment so we can all find your project. If you didn’t join us, read about how to play and consider doing next week’s theme.

+++++++++

Since we will be flying on a plane soon, the theme for next week’s Unplugged Project will be:

sky

Hope to see you next week!