Baby wearing for toddlers and preschoolers: child carriers for kids up to 45 lbs
When I started researching baby wearing while pregnant four years ago, I never looked up carriers beyond what I thought I would use during my child’s infancy. It seemed to me that once my kid started walking, he’d… you know, walk everywhere on his own. Now that I’m a parent of a three and a half-year-old who has been diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy, I’ve realized that what you think will happen isn’t always what actually happens. Enter my new obsession: child carriers designed for kids above 20 lbs.
How do we bring up gun safety with our kid — and the parents of our child’s friends?
We don’t own guns, but we live in an area where many people do. I thought I had more time to consider this issue, but one of my child’s preschool friends recently “shot” at me with a finger gun — “I am shooting you” — and I realized that the gun issue is coming sooner than I realized. My son so far seems pretty oblivious, but not for long.
Where can I find boy-friendly headbands?
After spending his entire life in a decidedly “I want to be like my dad” phase my almost four-year-old has recently entered into a “I want to be like my mom” phase. Part of this includes his new desire to have long hair — like, down his back long. Both his dad and I are totally cool with this, but it turns out the growing out of his hair is a total pain.
Imaginary friends, no time outs, and two more ways we’re compassionately disciplining our preschooler
So here’s the thing about discipline in our house: up until recently, we had no idea what to do about it. We went through a flirtation with time-outs for a while — we had a special chair that was in a special spot, and whenever it seemed appropriate, we followed through with asking/making our then-toddler sit in time out. It never felt totally “right” but it didn’t feel wrong, and it was better than other alternatives we knew of at the time.
Kids these days have all the luck: light-up shoes are so much better in 2012
Y’all: light-up shoes have come a LONG WAY since I was seven-years-old. As far as I know, no one’s yet designed light-up shoes for adults (or if they have, I can’t find them), the kid crowd has some amazing option now-a-days.
I’ve started telling my daughters I’m beautiful
There are a lot of people like me. Women who know things. Women who have seen things. Women with diseases in their livers. There are a lot of women with scars on their arms and words that carry themselves like sparrows. There are women who were too big for this town, who had their backs bent carrying things like religion and a history that originated somewhere in the crook of a branch that extended over a stream. All of you women with lines on your brow, with cracks between your fingers… it’s been a long winter. All of you, you are beautiful and so am I.
Halloween costumes for kids who use wheelchairs
Carter has Spina bifida, so his dad built him this outfit so he could roll around on Halloween with the rest of the kids.
An inexpensive rainy day project: DIY glimmer paint in two steps
I wasn’t sure if my son and I would ever attempt another colorful DIY creation after the Great Rainbow Slime Fail of 2012, but this recipe for DIY glimmer paint seemed too good to pass up. It’s sparkly AND colorful? COME ON NOW.