They have "jobs" which they have appointed themselves. One very important job, which they must never forget to do, is to clear all magnets off of the refrigerator. This gets done first thing in the morning. And during certain times of the day, Miss Jayne tries to tidy up the house and like an idiot, picks up the magnets and puts them back on the fridge. When will I learn? Their radar goes off and its back to work! Until every magnet is in the floor again.Recently I have tried to pull one over on them, by buying small puzzles and attaching magnets to the backs of each puzzle piece. I figure if they like playing with magnets, maybe they would enjoy doing something constructive with them. They don't, that just gives them more "magnets" to throw on the ground. And sometimes peel the magnet off the back in the process. Double the things on the ground to pick up.
Mid morning we have calendar time. I have to be careful with this, because our "calendar" is really just a sheet of paper I drew a calendar on. And I have the little ones place a sticker on each day and we talk about it a little bit. This activity is a success, they really enjoy it, except for inevitably, the one kid who just likes to peel all the stickers off. Last week, we moved from calendar time to putting together a puzzle on the fridge, which was next to the calendar. I had all the pieces in a plastic jar and dumped them all on the floor. Sometimes in the jar the magnets will fall off the pieces - it happens. No big deal, but on this one day every other piece was magnet free. What the heck?? A certain somebody was peeling the magnets off and sticking them on our calendar. LOL. Industrious!
We also have a sticker chart in the bathroom. I don't care how old these kids get, if they are 30 years old and come over for a visit, and I have potty trained them, they will always get a prize for using the toilet at my house. Every time a kid here goes potty in the toilet, they get a cheese ball, they get to use some hand sanitizer (which they love - who would have thought?) and they get a shiny sticker to hang on a chart. We always have a wise guy who incidentally isn't potty trained yet, who always pulls all the stickers off the potty chart. So now we have to hang that chart up pretty high, which is hard for the potty trained group - they are pretty short still.
And lets not even go into the cheese balls! I buy these cheap, generic Cheetos cheese balls. The toddlers have a problem with them, which a not as nice babysitter may call AN ADDICTION. They get so excited when they potty and know they are going to get one. Last year I had several 3 year olds every day, and they were old enough to know that when I was busy making lunch, I would go several minutes in between checking on them, and that would give them enough time to drag a stool to the cheese ball cabinet - which is not in the kitchen - get the container out, and have as many cheese balls as they wanted. You know, they actually got away with it for a while. My only clue was than one day in a mad haste to get away they left the lid off. I was very confused for a while too. (Which isn't that out of the ordinary for me.) If you ever want to get one of these kids to do anything, promise them a small bowl of cheese balls. Results every time.
In addition to trying to sneak stickers off the calendar/potty chart, and trying to talk me out of more cheese balls, the kids also love to wash their hands! When one toddler needs to go potty, sometimes it takes awhile. So I have started keeping a cabinet of books in the bathroom and making potty time - story time! Last year's group would really sit on my lap while they each took turns using the potty, it was so picturesque. This year's group is younger and couldn't care less about listening to a story. One of them always tries to get into things, while one - every time - tries to sneak the big heavy story seat to the sink, where they, sadly, can reach the faucet. Sigh. And I, just so I can get a few uninterrupted minutes with the kid on the potty, just let them wash their hands to their heart's desire.
One kid also loves to try and sneak all of their clothing off - even their diaper. Only thing is - they don't have the motor skills yet to just strip down, so they have to work for an hour to get one arm out of their shirt. I will catch it and slide that arm back in. Then I will notice them trying and trying to get their pants pulled down, but it's really hard for them to get it past their booty. Every so often, towards the end of the day - they will have success! Today was one of those days. It was a good day for them. Then if they really do get naked, the first thing they do is to run through the house letting everybody know. They are so proud of themselves, that getting them dressed again is not easy. They fight for their freedom! A big recreation part of our house is our long hallway. Oh my goodness - what a playground!! We use it for playing catch, standing at the end of the hall and trying to throw a ball into a bucket. (That is a tense game for Miss Jayne, as I am always the one holding the bucket). This year, the kids love to play a new game where I simply say, "1, 2, 3, run down the hall!" And they do. That's the game! They cackle and laugh so hard! I must be missing something, because I don't see what the big deal is. But I sure do like it! All I have to do is sit somewhere and count to 3!
A not so peaceful hall activity is to read books before nap time. I pick the hall to read in, because it is the one "room" in my house that has no distractions. If the kids are in the hall with me, they are actually paying attention to the book. Of course, out of a small group of toddlers, this means one will be on my lap - maybe two. Anybody else is doing one of three things. 1. Playing in another room. 2. Fighting with the other kid sitting on my lap for more room. 3. Trying to pull the book out of my hands while I am reading it. I try to select a pretty wide variety of subject matter, so usually the lap crowd rotates depending on the book. Do you know one book every group of kids loves? 'The Fright Before Christmas' starring Harold the dog, and Chester the cat. In it, the family pets are afraid of Christmas, and the Santa Claus costume hanging in the basement. They think the costume is a ghost, and the kids think it is a ghost too! They always get so quiet, and they all start paying a lot of attention. I have to lower my voice at some parts, and then shout out of the blue!!! They love it. The book is written for upper elementary kids, but toddlers just love it. Who would of thought?
We sure do have some fun around here. Between naked kids, and sneaky kids, I never have any cheese balls, or stickers where they are supposed to be. We have refrigerator puzzles that won't go on the refrigerator anymore, and magnets on our calendar. But, my goodness, the kids grow up so fast! I just love being able to enjoy them while they are still little. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked. Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
Genesis 33:5
No comments:
Post a Comment