Parenting Toddlers

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Writing this blog has been a wonderful experience. I have enjoyed my time here, even though it was very brief. Parenting toddlers is a topic I thoroughly enjoy writing about and sharing my experience.

I mentioned last week that my children waiting in Haiti are soon to be coming home. My life is quickly changing — for the better! I have a lot to accomplish before I leave to pick up my children. All of this has changed my life significantly and I am busier than before. I could try to keep up with this blog while trying to prepare for and then welcome our newest family members, but experience has taught me to recognize and honor my limits when they are slapping me upside the head.

This is my final post at Parenting Toddlers. I am certain a new writer will be hired very soon so please keep checking back.

Thank you, again, for your support!

Bryan brought up a great point that has been on my list to write about when he said, “I tried to balance his motor skills with whatever electronic game he might be playing. I really hope to be more determined about motor skill activities with our next little one.” Bryan, if you were aware enough to make the effort to balance your son’s game playing with other developmental skills, you were doing an excellent job of helping your son develop his fine motor skills. (more…)

I’m certain you are all wondering where on earth this new writer went. Just as I returned from Alaska, my family was notified that our children waiting in Haiti have moved to a significant part of the adoption process that requires more paperwork for us to fill out, notarize, photo copy, etc. and send to Haiti. (more…)

When Zoey (9) was about 5 months old, I discovered Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn. I took their advice and began signing with Zoey, but I wanted to be sure she was learning American Sign Language (ASL) rather than made up signs.

Shortly after graduating from high school, I worked as a teacher’s aide for a group that taught swimming lessons to children with special needs. I learned that there are a variety of reasons a person may require sign language to communicate, and it is not always because they are deaf or hard of hearing. I wanted my child to be able to communicate with them and that could only happen if they spoke the same language. (more…)

As I wrote the other day, I flew up to Alaska with my youngest child. As result, I decided to detour from development for a moment and talk about traveling with toddlers. Yesterday I even wrote in Parenting After Adoption about traveling home with your adopted child. Today I’m going to list tips for making flying with toddlers more enjoyable. I can not guarantee you won’t experience tantrums, but I hope that these tips can help alleviate most of them. (more…)

We pulled into the departure area at the airport as Keenan (7) launched into an explanation to Drew (4) that she was going to go on an airplane to Alaska. Drew, who had been excited last night about flying, wailed from behind me, “I don’t want to go on an airplane!â€? Daddy explained that she would be flying with me and reminded her that she had been excited the night before. With increased determination, Drew wailed, “But I don’t want to go on an airplane!â€? I thought to myself, “Oh, no! What am I getting myself into?â€? Then I thought, “Hey, this will be a great experience to write about on the Parenting Toddlers blog!â€? (more…)