The Inner Voice of Toddlers

Life is Good: my kids are listening to me!

Yesterday during naptime, or rather, what was supposed to be naptime, I heard the little one on our monitor repeating three phrases, "Oopsies. Oh no. Aw, man!" Over and over, "Oopsies. Oh no. Aw, man!" I'm always grateful for the video portion of the monitor (have I ever mentioned that I would have made a terrible pioneer?). However, in this case, I couldn't really see anything except our littlest sitting in the bed with his back to the camera. But I sure could hear, "Oopsies. Oh no. Aw, man!"

I hesitated to go into his room; I didn't want him to think that naptime was over. It had never begun, after all! Then, he stood up and turned around. And I knew why, "Oopsies. Oh no. Aw, man!"

I zipped up the stairs and opened the door to a completely naked 22-month old.  He had unsnapped and unzipped, pulled, stretched, untabbed, and thrown off every stitch of clothing as well as his diaper. He greeted me with a smile and, "Oopsies. Oh no. Aw, man!" followed by belly laughs.

Let it be known: I am a giggler. If I had an automatic setting, it would be "smile and laugh". It is just my nature. So I took a big breath and did my best not to even smirk as I re-diapered and clothed my wee one and explained ever-so-gently that it was time for nap. Big, smiling blue eyes looked at me as if to say, "Aren't you proud of me? Look how skilled and independent I am! Praise me for this big development milestone, lady!" I am sure that my clamped-down jaw and strange, fighting-not-to-smile lip configuration was quizzical at least. After a back rub as I sung "May All Children", our littlest obliged me by finally taking a nap. With all of his clothes on.

Before I got back to the tasks at hand, I stopped to ponder. "Oopsies. Oh no. Aw, man!" Okay, "oopsies" I get. I say the word a lot. It's my way of making light of mistakes. I want my children to understand that everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect or infallible. Nothing sounds too awful when accompanied by the word, "oopsies", right?

And "Aw, man!" Hmm. I didn't know that you could say that, little person. Then again, the past six weeks or so, you seem to repeat every word and phrase you hear. Often, it is accompanied by a little giggle of delight. A kind of verbal, self pat on the back. I'm sure you've heard each one of us in the family say this phrase from time to time. You are a developmental dynamo right now. It is so exciting to be witness to this special time in your life.

As for "oh no". Well, I guess that comes from me, too. You never know yourself as much as when you hear or see it through the form of your child's words and actions. I seem to say those two little words with a variance of inflection and tone, 99% of the time light-heartedly and most of the time when I have forgotten something (like where I left my brain...oh, yeah. I am pretty sure it fell out with the placenta!).

You may be little, wee one, but you are listening. And watching. You have your eyes and ears open twenty-four-seven. Which means I have to be committed to showing you the best of me and this world. That's the pact I made with you when you were born and I am sticking to it. I am not perfect, as you have already discovered (thanks for not mentioning that..."Oopsies...you make a lot of mistakes, mama. Oh no. Aw, man!") but I am committed to doing my best and each morning, I wake up, thank God for the chance to do things right today and feel grateful beyond words that I get to be your mommy. So I am going to be intentional about my words and my tone and my expressions. Because I know that what flows out from me, spills onto you. And you deserve nothing but goodness and kindness and love. Because I know that what I give to you in the form of my words and my actions is what you will take out with you into the world. “The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” (Peggy O'Mara)

Butterfly Activities for Kids

Life is Good: we're not molting and eating it!

I often say that I feel like my children are my teachers and I am the student. They have taught me so much---of exceptional note, to live in the moment instead of constantly looking ahead to tomorrow or the next big thing. They've also taught me how exciting and wonderful the world is when you look at it through their young eyes, minds, and hearts. However, from the time I entered parenthood, I not only took on the role of mother, but I also adopted the title, "teacher". I know that with my every breath, I'm teaching them. My demeanor, my words, my actions, everything is a direct influence on who they are and who they will become. I also feel it is my responsibility to teach them about this wondrous world. So this week...it is the wonders of BUTTERFLIES!
We've been talking about nature and transformation and reading lots of books. Here are a couple of our favorites.

Ten Little Caterpillars combines a rhythm that toddlers love and facts & info to keep preschoolers engaged. I love Lois Ehlert's style and Bill Martin, Jr has written so many modern classics for kids. The Life Cycles book has tons of information. It is a bit dry for the little one, so he perused the pictures in the Critter Counting book while the big kid and I learned about how butterflies lay their eggs. One of the biggest moments of the day was the discovery that caterpillars molt (shed) their skins up to five times before it grows into its chrysalis. And often eats its own skin! EWWWWW!
We've also been making caterpillar and butterfly art like these (below) using printmaking techniques.

For the butterfly, you fold a piece of paper in half...

Then paint half of a butterfly on one side of the folded line...

After, fold the paper over on top of the painted side and smooth it...

Peel it back slowly...

And voila! You've made a butterfly "print"!

To make a caterpillar "print", we dipped the end of an empty herb container into paint and then made a series of circles, then the big kid added legs, eyes, and a smile. 

And of course, we needed some sunshine in the picture, too!

I love the face on this caterpillar...

So cheery! I guess it is not aware that it might molt and then eat its skin soon! : )

I love making art and it is my sheer joy and delight to make art with my children. I try so very hard not to influence their style and to explain the difference between "crafts" and "art". The process of exploration, experimentation, and examination of art is more important to me than the end product. However, I have never found an end product that I didn't rejoice over! If you look closely, you can always find something beautiful in a child's work!

Today was no exception. We played around and had fun. We used recycled materials (YAY!) which I hope teaches my children that they can make art anywhere and from anything. Using recycled materials encourages stretching your brain to think of alternative uses and purposes and promotes creativity. I love watching the wheels turn in these little minds. 

And those wheels are exactly how we got this...

The big kid asked if we could make a caterpillar using our hands. Of course, we can!

Upon further inspection, we decided we could make a dinosaur out of our hand!

First, we painted the bottom of our fist...

 And then our hand...

 

Looks like a dinosaur to me! A T-Rex, maybe?

 

And a Spinosaurus, too? (With the addition of fingertip "spines".)

 Not to be outdone, little brother created some prints of his own using paint, the herb container, and the end of an empty cardboard spool.

 I think it is beautiful work! 

All of this reading, learning, art making and dinosaur creating made us hungry! So we went back to butterflies...

Monday Reflections

Life is Good: I have the power to see things differently!

Music has always been of significance to me. I can remember, as a kid, wearing headphones, sitting in front of my dad's stereo, listening to a new song from the radio over and over until I knew every single word. Then, I'd belt it out like I was in front of a stadium of 20,000 people. I could even hear the applause. And farther back to the age of two, I can see myself standing to the side of the piano while my sister played music from The Carpenters impeccably, encouraging me to sing. Her smile seemed to overflow. (I'm sure it was, from holding back laughter.) You could even say the honks of a recovered, antique church pipe organ were the soundtrack of my teen years---for my mom used hers to awaken me when she thought I had slept in too late on a weekend. (Not passive-aggressive at all, mom!)

The melody, the harmony has always enticed me. As I aged, the delicate recipe of instruments knitting sounds together raised my curiosity. But it must have been the writer in me---even when it hadn't been awakened yet---that made the lyrics reach right in to my heart or my head and not let go.

This summer, our church has only one service on Sunday mornings. Or should I say, one glorious service. Glorious because it begins at 10 AM. That deserves a hallelujah! Oh, how our family loves the slower pace of Sunday mornings in the summer that this 10 AM service provides. Another new piece is a lovely musical addition to our contemplative prayer time. A few generous talents from our congregation sing the (slower arranged) chorus of Michael W. Smith's "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord" (written by Paul Baloche) over and over while we all have time for silent prayer. Their voices are sweet and pure. And it is a lovely mantra for meditation. My mind becomes a backdrop of crystal blue sky and the words pop out in the shape of fluffy clouds of white cotton candy floating by.

Yesterday afternoon as well as this morning, I kept hearing those sweet words, "open the eyes of my heart, lord...open the eyes of my heart..." and I started to think about what life would be like if each one of us lived and loved like this. What would happen if we looked at each other through the eyes of our hearts? What would happen if we looked through our hearts to see each other? If we looked from our heart into another's heart?

If we used the eyes of our hearts, would we see more clearly? Would colors be brighter? Would everything look like "The Wizard of Oz" in Technicolor? If we used the eyes of our hearts, would we feel more at peace? Or giddy with excitement and love and bliss for all that this world has to offer?

More importantly, if we use the eyes of our hearts, we surely would see better into the hearts of others. We'd surely see that a friend needed a hug instead of a hello or an embrace instead of a hug. We'd see that someone needed a visit--the gift of our time and our attention-- instead of just a passing wave or a quick phone call. We would see that a little child needed to be listened to, truly listened to, so that they could feel confidant and confirmed, secure. We'd see need...emotional, physical, spiritual, time.

If we see with the eyes of our heart, would we show love differently? Would our hearts open up wider? Would we be more accessible, honest, tender? More selfless, more intentional, more inclusive? How might that affect the people in our lives--everyone from our closest family member to the guy behind us in rush hour traffic and the checkout person at the grocery store?

Might we draw conclusions, make inferences and choices, truly "see" differently?  The eyes of our heart might see a woman at the grocery store who wishes she could buy organic, but can only afford that Kraft macaroni and cheese that you are turning your nose up to. We might see a man watching our family intently from a park bench because he aches for time spent with his own children who are separated from him instead of seeing prying stares. We might see heartache instead of disturbance, compassion instead of annoyance. The eyes of our heart might see a woman who doesn't wear the latest magazine trends because her nose is stuck in books all of the time. We might see a family who happily chooses time together over careers that afford fancy cars, enormous houses, and the latest everything and anything.  The eyes of our hearts might see intention and powerlessness and everything in between. And humanity. Would we be blind to judgment? Would we see truth?

This goes beyond churchgoers or any particular faith. This is a call to the human race. To open the eyes of our hearts so that we might let love spill over onto each other.  If you open the eyes of your heart, what will we see? How will you see your world differently? How will we change our world?  By seeing through one open, loving heart at a time...

Potty Training Toddlers

Life is Good: I'm not potty training anybody!

It's all about your perspective, right? So when you are having a rough day, just think about how rougher it could be! You could be toilet training a little one! Ack!

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is Good: embrace it!

Black Beans Recipe for Preschoolers

Life is Good: I'm not letting my creative skills sit still!

Our five-year old is was such a good eater. We eat most everything from scratch and we eat a lot of "whole" foods, partially due to allergies and partly because I have just always eaten this way. He loves flavors that many kids don't--lemons, olives, curry, black beans, and more. He's always been adventurous about trying things and likes just about everything (except broccoli).
Well, he did. Until he started eating lunch at preschool sometimes. And learned that "some kids don't like..."
!!!
So, sometimes, the way to get your kid to eat healthy, protein-filled black beans is to do this...

Whatever it takes! Can I get an "Amen!" to that?

Eggless Asian Turkey Burgers

Life is Good: it's dinnertime!

Last week, I got a hankering for Asian turkey burgers. I perused some recipes, but nothing caught my eye, so I decided to wing it! That is what I love about cooking. You can totally be creative and it usually turns out edible if not delicious! (Baking is a science, though!)

So I grabbed everything I had in the fridge and threw it all together. The fam devoured them! The big kid had seconds and the littlest one had thirds! I cooked the burgers inside due to weather (brr!) but they would be fab on the grill.

Eggless Asian Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 T minced garlic

1 T fish sauce

1 T  lime juice

1 T garlic-seasoned rice wine vinegar (doesn't have to be garlic-seasoned)

Dash of ground ginger (1/4 t approximately)

5 T Soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Buns

Garnish with avocado, peppers, (sprouts would be good, too!) and spicy hoison sauce (recipe below)

Spicy Hoison Sauce*

Ingredients:

1/4 cup hoison sauce

2 T soy sauce

2 T sriracha sauce 

Directions:

1. In a bowl,  combine all ingredients (except the buns and garnish, of course!). 

2. Mix ingredients together, being careful not to over mix.

3. Separate mixture into equal parts and form into patties.

4. Cook on the grill or in a hot skillet until done. Use a meat thermometer to test the internal temp. It should read 165 degrees.

5. Remove patties and toast buns in your skillet utilizing the turkey burger drippings.

6. Place patty on bun and top with avocado, peppers, sprouts, and other crunchy veggies.

7. Spread spicy sauce (mix all three ingredients together) on top bun and place over burger. Serve.

Charred buns with spicy hoison sauce...

The finished product...so easy!

*You may discover that you want more hoison and less sriracha. It all depends on how spicy you like things! I did not serve the spicy hoison sauce to my kids---it is too "hot" and they are allergic to sesame, which is in hoison.

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