toddler fun

How to be a Toddler-Whisperer.

Toddlers are my all-time fave.  Sure, they’re loud, they speak unintelligibly, they won’t sit still for longer than fifteen minutes (if you’re lucky), and they wreak havoc in your otherwise tidy home.  Still, they are so easy to please if you can just tap into what makes them tick.  Here are my top ways to tame a toddler:

  1.  Be silly.  There’s no room for poise when there’s a toddler in the house.  Give into your ridiculous side and watch the magic work.  My favorite way to do this is through music.  Grab a few of your favorite tunes and boogie to your heart’s content.  Swing your kid around, throw them up in the air a bit.  Your toddler will thank you…and perhaps your waistline will too.  Burning a few calories never hurt anyone.  Some of my favorite kids CD’s are the following because physical activity and silliness are written into the lyrics.  Anything Hap Palmer, but So Big and Rhythms on Parade contain the best, in my opinion.  And Jim Gill’s 20th Anniversary Edition.  Some songs require props like musical instruments, sticks, bean bags or stuffed animals but those are easy to pick up.  We have a musical instrument set, similar to this one on Amazon, which has lasted for 10 years.
  2. Let them have it their way, already.  Carve out extra time to get to and from places, because we all know that  the little munchkin is going to insist that he put on his own socks and shoes.  And turn the inside car lights on/off over and over before settling into his seat.  And that he’ll want to buckle his own seatbelt (wait, what?).  Just be flexible.  If you’re not in a hurry all the time, you can indulge the kid in his/her whims so that he feels validated.  They eventually get over this phase, you know.  (Granted, while the older girls are in school, I only have one kid to tow around so this is easy for me to say. Still, I’m always surprised by how well older kids accommodate their difficult siblings.)
  3. Master the art of distraction.  My toddler has serious issues with diaper changes, among other things.  He will not stay still to save his life.  This is problematic with his brittle bones because manhandling him just might break him.  So I distract him by asking him questions, gently tickling his legs to calm him down, or having small toys on hand to interest him.  When I gave birth to four of my five children without an epidural, I survived only by learning how to think of something other than my pain.  Relieve your child’s pain (perceived pain, obviously) through distraction.  Have tricks up your sleeves at all times.  Songs, games, food, whatever it takes.  When all else fails, let him play with your phone for a few minutes.  (But don’t play that trump card often or it will cease to be a trump card.)
  4. Two words: sensory play.  Playdough, rice, beans, ooey-gooey-sticky-smelly stuff.  Toddlers love it.  Parents hate it.  Sensory play is a tool parents can wield to keep your child occupied for untold amounts of time.  Not only that, but toddlers experience a wide variety of benefits with sensory play.  Cause and effect, fine motor skills, stress relief.  Throw together a few bins to stimulate your child’s senses and rotate through them periodically.  Or just let your kid play in the sink every once in a while.  I recently threw together a bean bin as per these instructions and a rice bin (colored rice recipe here) to supplement our already ample playdough supply.  I bought a few dump trucks at a thrift store as well as some measuring cups and funnels and voila!  Cheap thrills.
  5. Get them outside.  This is a no-brainer.  And I realize that in some climates it’s easier said than done.  Where I live, it’s the dead of winter right now, so our options are limited.  Nevertheless, my kid would go crazy if his world consisted only of what lies between the four walls of our home.  So we get out.  Library story times are a fantastic option.  Museums are pretty awesome, too, though more expensive.  Brave the grocery store with your little beast(s).  Take a walk.  Each of these is an opportunity to expose your child to the wonder of the world and to interact with them on a grander scale.  During the summer your options are endless, but even during colder seasons, just do it.

Another fracture makes it 4-0 for mom.

Jack broke his arm this week.  Considering the diagnosis we got over a year ago, I count it a huge blessing that he hasn’t had a fracture until now, particularly after some of the spills he’s been taking since becoming mobile.  After all, he doesn’t know he has fragile bones.  It was rather uneventful.  In fact, some of the spills he’s taken up to this point elicited louder gasps and subsequent examination of limbs.  He cried, I held him until he settled, then sent him on his merry way to get into more trouble, as all toddlers should.

Then he tried to use his arm to stand up.  It buckled.  He cried out.  Darn.  The next few hours made it clear that, though he could use his arm for non-weight-bearing movements, it was definitely broken.  Called the pediatric orthopedist under whose care Jack is, made an appointment to see him the next day, confirmed fracture and bam!  Blue cast for three weeks.

Kids are resilient humans.  Within 24 hours, Jack was toddling around like any 15 month old, even trying to climb the ladder to the trampoline.  Yikes.  We have had a lucky 14 months since his last break but it is clear that it will take a few years for Jack’s recognition of his fragility to catch up with his desire for mobility.  Pretty typical of any kid, really.  It makes bubble wrap sounds like a pretty great option, in fact.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty grateful, for a number of reasons:

  1.  I got to see the xrays, which displayed lines across the bones in his wrist, much like tree rings, indicative of the bone growth that each of Jack’s infusions has stimulated.  So thankful for modern medicine.
  2. Jack’s femoral fracture at one month old was such a traumatic experience for me(not to mention, for Jack) that I admit I had residual fear of future breaks lest they resemble the last.  It’s nice to know that some fractures don’t require a frantic rush to the ER and hours of uninterrupted pain and screaming on the part of my sweet baby boy.
  3. Three weeks in a cast is totally doable.
  4. Knowing that a simple fall while trying to climb on my lap resulted in a fracture confirmed to me that our trampoline is going, going, gone as soon as Jack figures out how to climb on it.  I think Tim especially had a false sense of security after 14 months without a fracture and toyed with the idea of keeping it and just strictly enforcing safety rules.  Nope.  There are simply some pleasures in life of which we will have to be deliberate in steering Jack clear.
  5. Before his break, Jack was mostly walking but falling back on his trusty bear crawl if he wanted a little speed.  Now that his arm is forced into a right angle for three weeks, he’s been relegated to walking at all times.  He’s a sturdy little fella on his feet now, presumably building bone strength in those short little legs of his.