What a day.
I really, really needed E to nap today, or at least cooperate and stay in her room for the 30 minute quiet time. But no on both counts. Charlie doesn't usually have nearly the problem with her popping out of her room a billion times when he supervises quiet time. I should probably just change my whole tack and not give her Mommy milk, since it usually doesn't end up in a nap, anyway. If I'm giving up on the nap, maybe I should try a slightly different time, too, since she has a poopy diaper half the time that needs changing partway through. I really don't want to give up on the nap because she's such a tired, cranky mess by the end of the afternoon without one and it doesn't usually get her to bed any earlier, but I just can't get her to sleep anymore. Sometimes in the car. Sometimes, if she's really, really tired, at home, but usually only once or twice a week, and not without a lot of anguish beforehand. It's just so nice when she does fall asleep, I keep hoping. And since she still seems to need one, I don't want to be shorting her on sleep. *sigh*
I just ordered http://www.amazon.com/Toddlers-Busy-Book-Activities-3-Year-Old/dp/0671317741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372292188&sr=1-1&keywords=toddler+busy+book this book to hopefully avoid days like this one. The weather has been so sketchy here lately; it always looks like rain, so we haven't spent nearly the time outside that we should be. I need to be better about that. I haven't felt up to walking anywhere, and haven't had the car several days this week, and allergies have been kicking my butt the last two days. What I need, I know, is some sort of structure to our day together so that I can fall back on something other than the television. We did really well on Monday, and okay yesterday since we had Kindermusik in the morning, but today was bad, bad, bad. I thought she'd be going with Charlie after dinner to some friends' house and that she'd get her play in with their kids, but they cancelled a little while ago. So, Charlie and Elizabeth are grabbing dinner at some high class restaurant with a playland to give her a chance to play and me some time alone. I've ended up with time to myself the last two nights, but I've been so busy during it and have been so stressed out before it that it hasn't given me the long term relief I need. I'm hoping I can get back to a regular activity each morning and then have something for every afternoon from the busy book, and get started on the pre-preschool structure to the day that I was planning on having this fall. I don't at all think that traditional schooling with set goals beyond whatever the particular child is interested in or ready for is a good thing at this age, but I think our day really, really needs some structure, and she's really self-interested in letters and numbers and books, so I want to make sure she has the opportunity to explore and learn what she's ready for, and I don't think I'm doing a good enough job of that lately.
She has been sleeping in her bed regularly for the last week and a half, but she comes into ours most nights around two. Two nights ago, she slept in her own bed until 6, which was great. The other nights, I think that her dreams are the primary problem, and I think that TV is not helpful with that. When she came into our room last night, she woke up yelling about needing her stroller. When I told her she didn't need her stroller, she clarified the polka dotted stroller, and that she thought we had left it at the fire truck park. I told her that we'd brought it home with us, but she didn't need it in her room. She was fine with that -- I don't think they're really nightmares for her, just really vivid dreams that she has some trouble getting out of.
One thing that will also be helpful is getting the downstairs completely unpacked. Right now, we are in the process of majorly working on that, but it means it's more chaotic than ever. I was going to make her a felt board today, but I couldn't find my glue gun. I have everything I need for that, I just haven't done it yet. *sigh* Charlie is teaching a Biblical Greek class at our house starting on Tuesday, which is the deadline we've set for ourselves for getting the library and the family room completely put together. It sounded doable this weekend, but Charlie had a migraine yesterday and allergies have hit us both hard, so we haven't been able to get nearly as much done as I had hoped by this point. He also hasn't been able to get much work-work done, and we also have to get ready to go camping next Thursday. We've reserved a forest service cabin, so we won't be in tents, but we won't have running water, and I'm just not sure what all we need to bring with us. It's been a loooooong time since I've gone camping, and never as an adult, never as a mom.
I just ordered http://www.amazon.com/Toddlers-Busy-Book-Activities-3-Year-Old/dp/0671317741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372292188&sr=1-1&keywords=toddler+busy+book this book to hopefully avoid days like this one. The weather has been so sketchy here lately; it always looks like rain, so we haven't spent nearly the time outside that we should be. I need to be better about that. I haven't felt up to walking anywhere, and haven't had the car several days this week, and allergies have been kicking my butt the last two days. What I need, I know, is some sort of structure to our day together so that I can fall back on something other than the television. We did really well on Monday, and okay yesterday since we had Kindermusik in the morning, but today was bad, bad, bad. I thought she'd be going with Charlie after dinner to some friends' house and that she'd get her play in with their kids, but they cancelled a little while ago. So, Charlie and Elizabeth are grabbing dinner at some high class restaurant with a playland to give her a chance to play and me some time alone. I've ended up with time to myself the last two nights, but I've been so busy during it and have been so stressed out before it that it hasn't given me the long term relief I need. I'm hoping I can get back to a regular activity each morning and then have something for every afternoon from the busy book, and get started on the pre-preschool structure to the day that I was planning on having this fall. I don't at all think that traditional schooling with set goals beyond whatever the particular child is interested in or ready for is a good thing at this age, but I think our day really, really needs some structure, and she's really self-interested in letters and numbers and books, so I want to make sure she has the opportunity to explore and learn what she's ready for, and I don't think I'm doing a good enough job of that lately.
She has been sleeping in her bed regularly for the last week and a half, but she comes into ours most nights around two. Two nights ago, she slept in her own bed until 6, which was great. The other nights, I think that her dreams are the primary problem, and I think that TV is not helpful with that. When she came into our room last night, she woke up yelling about needing her stroller. When I told her she didn't need her stroller, she clarified the polka dotted stroller, and that she thought we had left it at the fire truck park. I told her that we'd brought it home with us, but she didn't need it in her room. She was fine with that -- I don't think they're really nightmares for her, just really vivid dreams that she has some trouble getting out of.
One thing that will also be helpful is getting the downstairs completely unpacked. Right now, we are in the process of majorly working on that, but it means it's more chaotic than ever. I was going to make her a felt board today, but I couldn't find my glue gun. I have everything I need for that, I just haven't done it yet. *sigh* Charlie is teaching a Biblical Greek class at our house starting on Tuesday, which is the deadline we've set for ourselves for getting the library and the family room completely put together. It sounded doable this weekend, but Charlie had a migraine yesterday and allergies have hit us both hard, so we haven't been able to get nearly as much done as I had hoped by this point. He also hasn't been able to get much work-work done, and we also have to get ready to go camping next Thursday. We've reserved a forest service cabin, so we won't be in tents, but we won't have running water, and I'm just not sure what all we need to bring with us. It's been a loooooong time since I've gone camping, and never as an adult, never as a mom.