The Winter that Killed Moms

I've seen that post heading used several times this winter. Its been long, cold and snowy, which has kept up inside way too much. Normal I am not one to hide inside due to poor weather, but when the snow comes up to your hips (and I'm 5'7) with a layer of ice mixed in its not the best or safest idea to take a 2 year old or 4 year old out to play. We've had some rough days, filled with more tv than I prefere. I also struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder which makes it hard to motivate myself some days. Even worse with the ice there have been multiple stretches when we haven't left the house for several days in a row due to poor road conditions. So yes this has almost been to winter that killed mom. I've haven't been as nice and patient as I usually am, more yelling and more just feeling blah. We have been watching more tv and I've let go a little of that. At its worse its been almost 3 hours a day. But this was because I was shoveling snow outside for over an hour and tv is the only sure way I know they won't kill each other while I'm outside working. I've tried to think spring some days. We cut up this seasons seed catalogs and made collages of our favorite fruits, veggies and flowers. We've practiced our letters and made books. Liv drew a picture then wrote a sentence about the picture. They were basic like "the elephant is eating" and she needed help with the spelling and harder letters, but what an amazing practice for writing that was so much fun. We've had dance parties, baked Pinkilicious cupcakes, muffins, cookies. No wonder why my pants are tight! Playdates are rare since its hard to leave the house, but when we can I get out and try to get to a friends. This winter isn't over yet, and another Arctic air storm is moving in. This winter might still kill me yet, but I'm hoping to come out on top. Spring is almost here, but if winter doesn't end soon, I might go mad.

Screen Free Week

This week is Screen Free Week, a week were you are supposed to turn off your tv, computer, and now the apps and anything else your smartphone can do other then call or text. It is supposed to get kids and adults to do other things. As you can see being online I am not participating. I don't think many people are since this is the first year since its start I have not seen is publicized much. Maybe with all the apps and smartphones we have gone to far for screen free?

While in theory I think it is a great idea one week of taking the screen away isn't going to help if rules are not set about electronics. Most people will go right back to being a tv addict, using their "crackberry" all day long or playing in an ipad any downtime they get. I am pretty anti-tv, but I do let Liv watch some tv. PBS shows are usually what I will put on. I find them simple and informative. And often I will use ideas on some shows for learning at home. Last week we watched a Curious George were he planted carrots and had a hard time waiting for them to grow. We just happened to plant carrots several days before and Liv had not been impressed with our garden so far. But after watching this George it lit a little fire in her. Seeing what will happen over the course of months in a 15 minute show helped her realize that those seeds will be carrots one day. She now get very excited to water the garden and check on our slowly growing vegetables. I really enjoy doing outdoor learning at this age so I often find Curious George and the Cat in the Hat Knows A lot About That are often about nature and will get Liv excited to do more outdoor activities like gardening, feeding birds, picking weeds, composting and other things that usually might be too "boring" or slow moving for a toddler. She learns a little from the show and I re-enforce the learning with actives and expand on it. For a toddler just turning off the tv for a week will not teach her anything about how tv and the internet can be addictive and a huge drain, but placing limits now will help teach her that so hopefully we won't feel the need for screen-free weeks. The APA recommends no more then 2 hours of tv and it is a rare day we even reach that. Some days we watch none and at the higher end we will watch an hour or so. I feel its all about balance. PBS doesn't have commercials for toys or fast food, which for me its the commercials that bother me most about children's programming. Young children are so impressionable at this age. They can not tell the difference often from where the show ends and the commercials begin. This is another reason why I love just getting DVDs from the library. Liv has been asking for Dora. Sad part she realized Dora is a cartoon from seeing her on swim diapers. She asked to watch the girl on her diapers. Commercialism at its best. My 2 year old knows that if its on a diaper its probably a show on tv. So to satisfy her Dora fix I get a Dora dvd from the library so I won't subject her to more commercials on Nick. Props to those who are going screen-free, and then you are probably not reading this anyway. I will keep my tv on, just turned to channel 13 for an hour a day :)

TV Limits

Last week I was thinking about what I was doing 2 years ago. I was pregnant with Liv in the middle of the summer, waiting for my due date, just as I am now. But there is one huge difference, this time I am caring for a toddler. Cooking, cleaning, playing games, chasing her for diaper changes and more.
It is absolutely exhausting. Most days during her nap time I am napping too.
Before I became pregnant I limited Liv's tv time to zero. She watched no tv at all. But once morning sickness started to set in I gave in. I needed the break to go throw up in peace and to also recover.
When I started to feel better the tv was turned off again.
But now as I approach my due date the tv has been turned back on again. I am so exhausted and tired I need some breaks.
I am fairly anti-tv for young children. There are so many other things they can and should be doing then passively watching television. But unfortunately since I can barely bend down and we are in a heat wave out door play is limited and so are many indoor activities. She will entertain herself, but can not do that as often as I would like. So for those rough times the tv goes on.
I still set strong limits with the tv.
No more then an hour a day (when I am more able its down to 1/2hour)
The hour can not be continues, she can not watch more then 15-20 mins of so of tv at a time. Which is perfect since most children's shows have 15 min episodes.
Other tips I used to keep our tv watching down is to not schedule in tv in our day. There is not time in the day Liv sits on the couch and expects to watch tv. I reserve it for special needs in the day. When I need to call the dr. When she is getting very fussy and i need a break. When I am absolutely exhausted and need to lay down, or when I don't feel well and need to lay down.
I think its important to not have tv time scheduled in our day. Even though I have become more dependent on it we are still not too dependent at all.
If we have a nice day planned and I feel well the tv does not go on all day.
There are so many negatives to the television at this age. A great book on it is
When I feeling a little more in my brain and not all about baby coming I will try to get more into why TV is can harm children at all ages.

Pregnancy Slow Down

Image by State Library of Queensland, Australia via Flickr

My morning sickness has subsided. I am feeling much better, but I am not a happy pregnant person.
Some people feel full of energy and life while pregnant, while I am tired and cranky. I get bloated, I have a hard time sleeping at night, my back hurts, I could go on and one, but this pregnancy is much different since I have to take care of a toddler.
When my morning sickness was bad Liv had her first exposer to children's tv. It was the only way to keep her out of the bathroom while I puked most of the morning. Now that I am feeling better, and the weather is nicer the tv is off. I limit her to around 1/2 hr a day. I have many reasons for this that I will discuss in an upcoming blog.
Since I am fairly tired I have been enjoying some more quiet activities with Liv.
We color together,
play dough,
blow bubbles outside,
side walk chalk,
build with blocks,
bake,
play with musical instruments
read together,
do fingerplays,
do puzzles,
and play with sorters and other shape toys.
This keeps us busy for some of the day. Liv is still to young to do many crafts, and I don't have the energy to attempt many of them with the messy clean ups.
I find if I take time to sit and play with her everyday she will play better alone so I can relax, cook or clean.
Liv will read to herself, play with toys cars, play dress up with shoes and jewelry, push her dolls around, care for her dolls, drive a play car around, dance, sing, pretend to shop in our pantry, and other things to keep herself busy.
I really love watching her play and grow. She has such a good imagination for a 21 month old.
I am just glad that we have not turned to tv, become dependent on it, as a main source of quiet entertainment, or for something to do when I can't play with her.
Even while I am starting to slow down, you can't slow down a toddler, and why would you want to anyway? This is how they learn and grow.