Tag Archives: pretend play

carving out a bit of space

Posted on by
1

While her sister is being showered with birthday wishes, presents and almost daily “she’s the world’s cutest baby!” attention, our almost three-and-a-half year old is carving out a private space for herself behind the couch. It’s really the only space where Phoebe can’t possibly get to and I’m certainly not going to lift her up and over to join her sister, although she begs for me to. Because she wants to be wherever the biggest birdie is. At all times. Wren has started to slam the door to the bathroom when she needs to use it and yell, “I need some privacy!” Phoebe scoots on over, stands up on the door and bangs her hands on the closed door. Speaking of which, I needed to get some plumbers for drain cleaning, because it had been causing too much of a problem. Just a preview of the teenage years or are they getting it out of their system now? Oh my.

Some people told me that three was harder than two, but mostly we’re enjoying it. Wren likes to talk about everything and anything, she has an incredible sense of humor and is really into pretend play and helping around the house. Tantrums have mostly disappeared, but those may have been replaced by whining… Sigh. She enjoys going to school, going to dance class and playing with friends. She is very social, so it’s interesting to me that she’s begun to also seek some space just for herself.

Oh biggest birdie, we love you oh-so-very-much. We ALL love to see you change and grow. xo

it really sucks

Posted on by
Reply

Wren keeps asking, “is it pretend?!” No, it really sucks. I can’t believe people spend oodles of money on cool-looking pretend vacuums that do absolutely nothing when you can spend $19.99 on something that actually works. Just let your child go to work while you kick back and drink a mimosa, ha! Ahem. While it doesn’t work great on the two (!) small rugs we own, it’s perfect for the wood floors. And perfect for Wren. It’s much more fun to clean when Wren wants to participate. I really don’t like cleaning, but I’m trying to create a different attitude about it (boy, how many times have I said that?) It’s just never-ending… sigh. You know the drill, Mamas. You turn your attention to one area of the house and meanwhile another disaster zone is created. You can’t get to picking it up and directing your child to help because you’re helping another child, or making dinner, or trying to have a conversation with another adult. It just snowballs! And now we’re entering the world of toys with small parts and puzzles with lots of puzzle pieces and it’s gotten to be a bit overwhelming to me. Side note: I DID just take several boxes and bags of stuff to Goodwill because really, how many shape sorters does a family need?!

But did I tell you the fun (and sad) thing about this vacuum? This past fall I was a guest blogger on Moonfrye, Soleil Moonfrye’s blog. You know, Punky Brewster? Well, she sent me a handwritten note and Target gift card, yahoo! So I spent part of the gift card on this vacuum. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what Punky would’ve spent her money on, but this Mama has to be a bit more practical with her gifted cash. Boo!

Lovelies, have you cultivated a good attitude about cleaning? How do you do it with small children in your midst? It’s one thing to have things picked up, but I just can’t get to the real nitty gritty cleaning… any ideas? Do you involve your toddler in cleaning too? Thoughts?

 

take one and call me in the morning

Posted on by
Reply

Wren loves it that I’m under-the-weather with mastitis because she is VERY into playing doctor. Ever since she attended a lot of my OB appointments when I was pregnant with Phoebe, she has shown a daily interest in all things medical-related. She takes her doctor work very seriously. I’m thinking we ought to eat out more often at the hospital cafeteria a few blocks away! Man, does she love the cafeteria and walking through the hospital corridors…they actually have a decent salad bar, but when’s the last time you tried to negotiate a salad bar with a toddler and infant in tow? Yeah.

It’s interesting to me how as a well-meaning parent I carefully chose toys for Wren (ergonomic, organic, well-designed, wood, educational, blah blah…) and then instead she grabs a little suitcase and fills it with random things, calls it a “doctor bag” and proceeds to give check-ups. That being said, my Mom gave her a pretend doctor kit with some tools and a jacket for Christmas and she knew what it was right away. And was over-the-moon excited about it. Need a check-up? Come by anytime, the doctor will surely see you.