07.31.07
Kids Craft Weekly
Looks like we’re going to be doing a lot of indoor activities for the next few days as we’re expecting some wet weather. It’s always challenging after a few days indoors to not go crazy with cabin fever, so I thought I’d pass along a great resourse I refer to for crafting with little kids: Kids Craft Weekly.
Created by an Australian mum with two wee ones, she knows her stuff in terms of what will work for young kids and what won’t. You can sign up for a free themed newsletter that she sends out every second week (no worries about spam, either), or you can just visit the site and check out the archives for all the past issues of newsletters. I love the fact that each issue has a number of different crafts that tie into the same theme. She also has a lot of tips and resources on the site of general info about crafting with young kids. Check it out and happy crafting!
07.30.07
Is there an age a child should stop breastfeeding: part 2
As an interesting tie-in to my post last week about breastfeeding older kids, ABC News posted an article on breastfeeding older children yesterday. While the article is an interesting read, reading the multitude of comments is far more enlightening (and in some cases hilarious).
07.29.07
Lego Creativity Awards
My daughters are bursting with creativity, which I try to foster and encourage as much as possible. While they’re too young right now to enter Lego’s Creativity Awards contest, I’m happy to see there are awards out there like this, rather than simply encouraging athletic prowess or the ability to memorize and regurgitate facts.
Ten lucky kids between the ages of 6 & 13 will each win a $5000 prize for their creative aspirations (there are two age categories to even the playing field). Entries must be submitted by September 17.
07.28.07
Babies still dying in overheated cars…
I came across an interesting AP article today: Sentences vary when kids die in hot cars. I thought it was very well-written and somewhat thought-provoking as well. It’s unfathomable to me how people could forget their child in a car. Seriously, how do you be going somewhere with your child and go in someplace for hours at a time without remembering that you are, in fact, a parent who is wholly responsible for a young life. But after reading the aforementioned article, I was able to understand some of the circumstances a bit more (although I am not, and would never, ever condone such actions).
Generally my impressions of people who lost children to such tragic, yet unavoidable, circumstances have been that these people probably were not the most attentive parents, and possibly should never have become parents in the first place. Somewhat prejudicial and stereotypical, I know, but these were generally my first thoughts, because how can you forget you have a child? And sadly, there were a couple of people mentioned in the article that seem to fit that cliché. How on earth do you think it’s alright to leave your young children alone in the car? Even if you’re unaware of how quickly a car interior can heat up on a warm day, who leaves their young kids alone anywhere for hours at a time? These are the people who really should never have had kids in the first place.
But I was surprised to read that the vast majority of people who are at fault in this kind of loss are successful, often professional and very accomplished members of society. And some of these people were not the parents (and therefore not the normal caregivers of the children), so for them to blank out and forget their responsibilities is perhaps not as abhorrent as a parent leaving their child, it’s still unthinkable. Mind you, I would think this is something that will torment these people for the rest of their lives, all stemming from a short period of forgetfulness or preoccupation.
I think losing a child would be the worst thing a person could face, but in these hyperthermia cases, I’ve often thought that there is some definite parental responsibility lacking. So I was surprised that the article actually left me feeling sympathetic for some of these parents mentioned, especially once you get to the end to hear the rest of Kevin Kelly’s story. Perhaps people like Mr. Kelly will eventually create enough awareness that no more children will die of heatstroke in sweltering cars.
In the meantime, though, babies are still dying strapped into their carseats… as recently as a few days ago in San Francisco.
07.27.07
The Power of No
Baby Coole has recently learned the power of the word no. At twenty months now, her vocabulary is still very limited (very different from Big Sister Coole, who was spewing paragraphs at that age), but ‘no’ has quickly become her favourite word – so much so that even when she says ‘yes’, it still somehow manages to sound like a slurred and drawn-out no.
I fear we are entering the realm of Terrible Two-dom a little early. Although, in retrospect, Big Sister Coole’s Terrible Twos stage was definitely more in the 18-24 month range for her. But Big Sister was so precocious, it didn’t surprise me at all that she hit that stage early – she was ahead of the game with the rest of her milestones as well. Plus, there were sever extenuating circumstances at the time for her, as all our energy and attention were devoted to Daddy Coole whose health rapidly deteriorated and then culminated in his untimely death right after her 2nd birthday. So in my mind, her behavior was at the very least understandable.
Things are different now with Baby Coole – she’s my cute little baby and I sort of want to hold on to that baby stage as long as possible before letting her grow up. Even her rebellious attitude right now is somewhat amusing and I know I’m not nearly as strict with her as as I should be. I know that this stage, like all others, will pass, but until then, I’d like to just bury myself in the backyard for a few months. Or perhaps I’ll just have to learn to use the power of no myself.
07.24.07
How fire-safe is your home?
A series of unrelated events – coincidences, I suppose – over the past week have led me to re-examine my fire safety preparedness and plans at home. It started while I was browsing in one of my favourite little mom and pop shops while they were having a fire inspection (their fire extinguisher had expired), and culminated with my cousin losing his house in a fire over the weekend. Little Girl Coole has become very concerned with fire over the last couple of days, talking about it frequently and even drawing numerous pictures of my cousin’s house burning (although in the pictures, the fire is always friendly and smiling – life through the eyes of a preschooler).
Pre-kids, I was very on top of fire safety in our home after a very close call seven years ago. Our dryer caught on fire (electrical) while I was doing a load of laundry. Thankfully, I was home at the time and smelled it, but by the time I got to the laundry room in the basement, the dryer was shooting small flames and the basement was filled with thick, acrid smoke. Also thankfully, when I moved away from home, my parents made sure I had all the necessities: my mom shopped for linens and kitchen goods, my dad gave me a well-stocked tool box and a fire extinguisher. Whether he was being particular or prescient doesn’t matter – that fire extinguisher saved my house, and probably others as well (our house was a townhouse style condo unit at that time). I immediately sent hubby out to buy more fire extinguishers, and I basically told everyone I knew that they should be doing the same. That fire scared me quite a bit, and to this day I will not leave the house if the dryer is on.
But if I’m being completely honest, fire safety in my home is now a somewhat neglected issue. The safety of my children is paramount, especially as a single parent who is entirely responsible for anything that should happen to the little Coole Girls. And I am generally a very responsible and organized person, but this is just another one of those things that just keeps getting put off. Yes, I have smoke alarms on every floor that are tied right into the fire department’s system alerting them immediately if an alarm goes off (which once caused a bit of an embarrassment with a cooking episode gone wrong in our kitchen, but that’s another story for another time). Do I regularly test the alarms and change the batteries? No. Yes, I have a fire extinguisher in easy reach in both the kitchen and the laundry room. Do I take them in for their yearly maintenance checks? No. I know I should have fire escape plans in place and go over them with the little Coole Girls; I should have fire escape ladders in the upstairs bedrooms; I should probably even put in carbon monoxide detectors. It seems like just more stuff to add to the never-ending list of things to do. But with all the little happenstance signs we’ve been getting, I know it’s time to put an end to the procrastination.
Therefore, I was quite pleased to chance upon a great fire safety website geared towards kids: Staying Alive. The Kids’ Zone is chock-full of information, games and activities, but there are also separate sections for parents and educators. Created as a tribute to a little girl who lost her life in a 1998 house fire, the comprehensive website answers just about any fire safety questions you might have and gives great guidelines for you to use as starting points in making your home and your family more fire-safe and aware. The little Coole Girls and I will definitely be referring to this regularly.
