In just over 2 months, the blog has reached 1,000 views. I know that some of those are The Wife and some of them were me when I was just getting started and trying to figure out how this works, but hey... I think it's awesome that it's been read that many times. I have only gotten a few comments over the course of the blog... mostly from The Wife and PipsyLou (the sister-in-law)... but I've had a few others too. I know that there are people out there reading it, so thank you for taking the time to do so.... but you should leave comments because it's so exciting for me to see when I sign on!!!
Two days to the big move. The moving company called today and confirmed an 8-8:30am move on Saturday. It's early, but that will just give us more time for setting up the new house and getting settled in as much as possible. Hopefully the forecast will be accurate and the ground will be dry enough for the kids to spend the day out in the yard... thus allowing us more time to unpack. Either way though... the move is looming.
27.9.12
26.9.12
Moving Week
It has begun.
Last night, I packed up one of the cars with a few boxes and headed to the new house. Luckily, we got the keys a few days early, so we are able to paint and get things ready for the big move on Saturday. Granted, it was only one wall that needed painting, but that's something at least. The first coat is on and I'll have to go over for a second coat in the next couple of days. Leonard and Penny were super excited about their room still having a green wall when we move. The thing that they are most excited for is the giant backyard. Right now, they've been playing in a mostly concrete, 15' x 15' backyard. The new yard is gigantic and it will give the kids the chance to run and run for hours. The yard should provide some very restful nights for everyone, as the kids run themselves down to nothing.
The house is so much nicer than we even imagined it could be. It's amazing how fresh and new everything looks with cleaned carpets and a fresh coat of paint on the interior. We move Saturday morning and have our monthly meeting with Marty and Kate on Monday. We fully intend on having the house look as if we've lived there for months by the time of our meeting. We'll see how that goes... but we do have a plan of attack in place.
Hopefully we can get it set up and I will be able to post pictures of the new playroom and their new bedroom over the weekend.
25.9.12
Yep... He's a Biter
The temporary pardon that I wrote about last week has been revoked. Leonard bit another kid at daycare yesterday. For a child that has a vocabulary of several hundred words and speaks more clearly than most kids his age, biting should not be anywhere near anything that he ever does. But it is.
Last night, Leonard's evening consisted of standing in his room alone (apparently sitting just didn't sound good?), coming down to eat, taking a bath, and going to bed. There was no television and no playing. He was also not entitled to books being read to him. Penny enjoyed her evening though, cartoons, books and all.
Before he went to bed, we did their sticker charts. Penny earned hers for having such a good day and she was very excited to see the sticker go on the chart. Then came Leonard's turn.
The Wife: "Were you good at daycare?"
Leonard: "Yes"
Us (pretty much in unison): "You bit a kid... that's not good."
The Wife: "Were you nice to your sister?"
Leonard: "Yes"
The Wife: "I would agree with that. You were nice to her. Did you listen to us today?"
Leonard: "Yes"
The Wife: "When we told you not to bite anyone anymore and we talked about it... you didn't listen to that. Did you use your words today?"
Leonard: "Yes"
The Wife: "No. Those are the first words that you have said to us since you got home from daycare."
We then informed him that he would not be getting his sticker and that tomorrow (today) would have to be a better day if he wanted one. Then it was off to bed. No tears though, which was slightly unexpected. When I went in to tuck Penny into bed, he was still awake, huffing and puffing in the angry way that he does.
This morning he was pretty talkative though, so I guess he has a short memory. Which is good in the way that he doesn't continue to be surly days after things happen, but is bad in the way that he seems to ignore conversations we have had about his behavior. The daycare said that they would be sure to keep a closer eye on him during the day to make sure that the biting doesn't occur again. Hopefully this will be a short phase and we can get past it sooner, rather than later.
Last night, Leonard's evening consisted of standing in his room alone (apparently sitting just didn't sound good?), coming down to eat, taking a bath, and going to bed. There was no television and no playing. He was also not entitled to books being read to him. Penny enjoyed her evening though, cartoons, books and all.
Before he went to bed, we did their sticker charts. Penny earned hers for having such a good day and she was very excited to see the sticker go on the chart. Then came Leonard's turn.
The Wife: "Were you good at daycare?"
Leonard: "Yes"
Us (pretty much in unison): "You bit a kid... that's not good."
The Wife: "Were you nice to your sister?"
Leonard: "Yes"
The Wife: "I would agree with that. You were nice to her. Did you listen to us today?"
Leonard: "Yes"
The Wife: "When we told you not to bite anyone anymore and we talked about it... you didn't listen to that. Did you use your words today?"
Leonard: "Yes"
The Wife: "No. Those are the first words that you have said to us since you got home from daycare."
We then informed him that he would not be getting his sticker and that tomorrow (today) would have to be a better day if he wanted one. Then it was off to bed. No tears though, which was slightly unexpected. When I went in to tuck Penny into bed, he was still awake, huffing and puffing in the angry way that he does.
This morning he was pretty talkative though, so I guess he has a short memory. Which is good in the way that he doesn't continue to be surly days after things happen, but is bad in the way that he seems to ignore conversations we have had about his behavior. The daycare said that they would be sure to keep a closer eye on him during the day to make sure that the biting doesn't occur again. Hopefully this will be a short phase and we can get past it sooner, rather than later.
22.9.12
The Sticker Chart
I think I said a couple of days ago that we were going to start a sticker chart for Leonard and Penny to try to curb some behavior issues. Things like arguing with each other, not talking to us, not following directions, biting and hitting are the reasons that we've decided to start it. There are four things that they must be able to answer "yes" to, in order to get their daily sticker. The questions that we ask at the end of the day are:
1. Were you nice to your sister/brother?
2. Were you well-behaved at daycare?
3. Did you listen to us? (Follow directions, that kind of thing)
4. Did you use your words?
Today is day three. Out of the last two days, so four stickers between the two of them, they have gotten two. In two separate instances, they have each lost their stickers for tonight already. While I wouldn't say it has improved their behavior, it seems to be going fairly well, as both of them have managed to maintain their composure when they haven't gotten stickers at night. Up to this point, they had each missed one night. We decided that cartoons or tv, after baths and before bed, was a bad idea and ends up causing more problems that it could ever be worth. The "prizes" associated with the sticker chart are the reward of cartoons/tv on specific, predetermined nights and the reward that will probably be the most exciting for them is that they will get to choose what activity we do for the weekend. The options are going to be things like going to the park, the zoo or the farmstead... hopefully we will come up with more options at some point. My guess is that it will be a few weeks before either of them earn the right to choose the activity, but they could surprise me.
1. Were you nice to your sister/brother?
2. Were you well-behaved at daycare?
3. Did you listen to us? (Follow directions, that kind of thing)
4. Did you use your words?
Today is day three. Out of the last two days, so four stickers between the two of them, they have gotten two. In two separate instances, they have each lost their stickers for tonight already. While I wouldn't say it has improved their behavior, it seems to be going fairly well, as both of them have managed to maintain their composure when they haven't gotten stickers at night. Up to this point, they had each missed one night. We decided that cartoons or tv, after baths and before bed, was a bad idea and ends up causing more problems that it could ever be worth. The "prizes" associated with the sticker chart are the reward of cartoons/tv on specific, predetermined nights and the reward that will probably be the most exciting for them is that they will get to choose what activity we do for the weekend. The options are going to be things like going to the park, the zoo or the farmstead... hopefully we will come up with more options at some point. My guess is that it will be a few weeks before either of them earn the right to choose the activity, but they could surprise me.
Food = Love
Except that's not true at all. I know of a couple of people who seem to like that approach to life.
At visits yesterday, there were the following foods and drinks:
4 Bananas
Broccoli
Carrots
Chocolate Milk
Fruit Punch
Butterscotch Pudding
Chocolate Pudding
Grapes
Cheeseburgers
Blueberries
Pretzel Sticks
French Fries
Lemonade
Cheese
Ranch Dressing... for dipping everything
Aside from the unhealthy aspect of many of the items on this list, it seems like a decent list of snacks that would last a couple of weeks. Or just two hours worth of visits... that occur about an hour and a half after they finish breakfast at daycare. Their mom does a decent job, all things considering, as she generally brings them lunch, which is usually the hamburgers and fries and lemonade. The rest of that list comes during their visit with their dad. And they eat it. Obviously not all of the food gets eaten, but who could possibly eat that much food? Yesterday, The Wife and I decided that we are no longer accepting food to bring home from the visits. Leonard and Penny's parents can make the call as to whether or not they would like to throw it away or take it home with them. In the nine visits since they have come to us, we have easily thrown away $150 worth of food. And that might be a huge understatement. It could easily be over $200. Maybe when they realize that we don't need the food for the kids and they have to throw away unopened, perfectly good food, they'll stop bringing it. Somehow I doubt that.
Good news though... there weren't any more toys and useless crap sent this week. After last week's maracas and noisy magic wand thing, we are way past over that too.
At visits yesterday, there were the following foods and drinks:
4 Bananas
Broccoli
Carrots
Chocolate Milk
Fruit Punch
Butterscotch Pudding
Chocolate Pudding
Grapes
Cheeseburgers
Blueberries
Pretzel Sticks
French Fries
Lemonade
Cheese
Ranch Dressing... for dipping everything
Aside from the unhealthy aspect of many of the items on this list, it seems like a decent list of snacks that would last a couple of weeks. Or just two hours worth of visits... that occur about an hour and a half after they finish breakfast at daycare. Their mom does a decent job, all things considering, as she generally brings them lunch, which is usually the hamburgers and fries and lemonade. The rest of that list comes during their visit with their dad. And they eat it. Obviously not all of the food gets eaten, but who could possibly eat that much food? Yesterday, The Wife and I decided that we are no longer accepting food to bring home from the visits. Leonard and Penny's parents can make the call as to whether or not they would like to throw it away or take it home with them. In the nine visits since they have come to us, we have easily thrown away $150 worth of food. And that might be a huge understatement. It could easily be over $200. Maybe when they realize that we don't need the food for the kids and they have to throw away unopened, perfectly good food, they'll stop bringing it. Somehow I doubt that.
Good news though... there weren't any more toys and useless crap sent this week. After last week's maracas and noisy magic wand thing, we are way past over that too.
21.9.12
Droppin' Bombs
F-bombs, that is.
Leonard learned a new word at daycare yesterday... how fantastic is that? He apparently used it twice while he was there, once at lunch and once out on the playground. Once his teacher told him that it was a bad word, he didn't say it again though, so I suppose that's something. When The Wife first learned of this happening, she told the teacher that she didn't know where he learned it. The teacher then re-assured her that there was another little boy that "knows all of the words" and that was where Leonard had heard it. They're two years old, so I guess they really are like little sponges and/or parrots... learning and repeating everything they hear and see. The real question is... did he use it in the correct context? Hopefully we'll never have to find out.
Leonard learned a new word at daycare yesterday... how fantastic is that? He apparently used it twice while he was there, once at lunch and once out on the playground. Once his teacher told him that it was a bad word, he didn't say it again though, so I suppose that's something. When The Wife first learned of this happening, she told the teacher that she didn't know where he learned it. The teacher then re-assured her that there was another little boy that "knows all of the words" and that was where Leonard had heard it. They're two years old, so I guess they really are like little sponges and/or parrots... learning and repeating everything they hear and see. The real question is... did he use it in the correct context? Hopefully we'll never have to find out.
20.9.12
Pardoned
At least partially.
Leonard was accused a couple of days ago of biting a little girl at daycare. The Wife spoke to the teacher that saw the whole thing happen and even she wasn't sure that he bit the girl. Immediately before "the bite", he was hugging the little girl. Somehow, he made a motion that looked like he bit her. She didn't have any reaction to whatever he did, so that leads the teacher who saw it to believe that there was no bite at all. We jumped to the immediate reaction that it had happened because, even though we haven't seen it in our eight weeks with the kids, we were told when they first arrived that he had a history of biting.
No matter how it all went down, he eventually talked about it and understands that biting and hitting are both wrong. He knows that is not how we treat our friends, or anyone else. For now, we don't know what to think, as to whether or not it actually happened, but until it happens again (but hopefully never again), his name has been cleared from wrong-doing.
Leonard was accused a couple of days ago of biting a little girl at daycare. The Wife spoke to the teacher that saw the whole thing happen and even she wasn't sure that he bit the girl. Immediately before "the bite", he was hugging the little girl. Somehow, he made a motion that looked like he bit her. She didn't have any reaction to whatever he did, so that leads the teacher who saw it to believe that there was no bite at all. We jumped to the immediate reaction that it had happened because, even though we haven't seen it in our eight weeks with the kids, we were told when they first arrived that he had a history of biting.
No matter how it all went down, he eventually talked about it and understands that biting and hitting are both wrong. He knows that is not how we treat our friends, or anyone else. For now, we don't know what to think, as to whether or not it actually happened, but until it happens again (but hopefully never again), his name has been cleared from wrong-doing.
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