Fun stuff

I just finished making scratch-off reward cards for Emily.  I cannot wait to use them.  I'm trying to be chill about her still waking up wet some mornings since the doctor said it's still totally normal and can go on until 7 or 8 or even older.  But still, she does do better with staying dry when we keep track and make a big deal of her staying dry.  I'm trying not to pressure her because for the most part, I do think a lot of it has to be when her body and mind is mature enough to hold her pee all night, but if keeping track helps her to stay dry, then why not.  So if she stays dry all 7 mornings of the week, she'll get to scratch off two prizes, and if she stays dry 6 days out of 7 she'll get to scratch off one....staying dry 5 or less does still get a star on the chart and an atta girl, but not scratch-off prizes.

I made some the other day, but they called for contact paper but I didn't have any, so at the suggestion of a commenter, I used a white crayon to color the "prize" to put the waxy layer down and then painted over it with nail polish.  It worked ok, but to use nail polish I think you really need to be scratching it off in a specific time period when it's dried enough, but not too dry because it wasn't real easy to scratch it off.  I made enough for 4 weeks, so obviously the nail polish is going to be very dry.  Plus, I don't want to waste my nail polish, and the smell was bad.  I could have used paint, but my hand was very tired by the time I got done coloring them all with the white crayon.

So I picked up some contact paper and voila, much better.  Just draw some circles on the contact paper, paint them with (mostly) equal parts acrylic paint and dish soap mixed together, once dry peel off the back and stick them over the prize on the card.  I did stuff like McDonald's sundae, extra time before bed, extra bedtime story, take a walk, go to the library, blind bag (I'm sure most parents know what those silly blind bags are), mommy/daughter date...I'm most excited for that one, so I hope she scratches that one off soon.  We went to this Chinese place the other night for dinner and it was soooo good, I had been craving Chinese and it did not disappoint.  Emily actually liked quite a bit of what she had and said how much she liked it there, which is pretty rare for her.  So I think if we do a date soon, we'll go there for lunch, and then I'll take her to the Dairy Go-Round.  It's this ice cream place where the building looks like a carousel and they have carousel horses all around the building.  She hasn't been there since she was pretty little, I don't think she could even walk yet, so it'll probably be like the first time there.

I also made her some chore charts with money attached to them.  We're pretty bad about remembering to give her an allowance, so I thought I would make up a bunch of non-weekly chores that she can do and each one has so much money attached.  So like, she can sort through her toys bin and put them all away in the right containers for a dollar, today she sorted her clean laundry and put them all away for two dollars....I think we'll also give her a weekly allowance, but I want it to be pretty small, like a dollar a week because there are certain things she should be doing no matter what and not because she is getting paid.  But I also want her to learn the value of money and to learn to save and spend it wisely. 

So we'll encourage her to save it, but every now and again maybe we'll see how much she has and tell her if she wants a toy she can pick something out.  Then she can learn that she has,  say $25.00 but this toy she wants is $30 so she cannot get it and she has to either pick something cheaper or save a little longer for that toy.  Then she can give the money to the cashier when we check out....I'm excited.  We also have good deed money.  It's clipped to the fridge with a post it and $5.00, and she has to do 5 good deeds to get the money.  But they'll just be good deeds that we happen to witness her doing, so like today without me telling her to she picked up the toys she had laying out so she could bring out these special toys from my office.  I did tell her to do that the other day, but the fact that she remembered, and did it today without being prompted was good, so I gave her a check mark toward her good deed money.

The other night I was playing Mario on Wii (I introduced her to it and now I am hooked on it again.  I just beat it again for the millionth time, and I just started over again) and it was around midnight and suddenly I heard Em crying from her room.  I ran in there and she was just sobbing her little heart out, but I quickly realized she was still asleep, so she must have been having a nightmare.  So I told her it was ok and I rubbed her back and she calmed down some but not much, and then I started singing and she calmed down almost instantly and settled back into a peaceful sleep.  I hate that she had a nightmare but man, I loved that she needed me and just my singing (which I've done since she was an itty bitty newborn) calms her almost instantly.  I cannot even remember the last time she has cried like that in the middle of the night.  It may be close to a year now.  Anymore, once I tuck her in for the night, that's it.  Which I know all you moms of newborns or even older kiddos who just have difficulties at night are like pshhhhha, such problems.  But it's true what they say, you'll miss it one day.

I wouldn't want to go back to the days where I had to go in multiple times a night or get woken up in the middle of the night....but she's growing up way too fast and it feels good to still be needed.  She has been pretty difficult this weekend, not listening and just being loud and getting into mischief, but it doesn't matter how rough of a day we've had.  Once she is tucked in for the night, most nights I have to really fight the urge to go in there and snuggle with her.  Mostly because I know I'll never get out of there without waking her up.

I just printed off some "kindergarten" line paper.  I think I'll start working with her on writing her name.  I won't push her, if she gets it she gets it, but if she has troubles I won't keep pushing her.  I get annoyed at how much different pre-school and K is now since I was a kid, so I definitely don't want to heap the pressure on her to learn a bunch of stuff that I feel they are too young to be learning yet.  When I was a kid, pre-K and K was all learning through playing.  Sure we had lessons about numbers and colors and stuff, but I think school starts off way more academic now rather than play, and I even know of some Kindergarteners who have homework in K.  Really? 

I'll admit, I am a little nervous about Em coming in, her first year in formal school, with a bunch of kids who have either been in daycare since they were infants or who at least did 3-year-old preschool....I do worry she will be behind a bit.  I know some kids her age that can write their name.  But at the same time, I know she is smart in so many ways, and she, of course, won't be the only kid coming from a stay at home/work from home mom household who has not been in daycare or pre-K all this time.  I heard someone say how they are so glad their kid has been in daycare all this time because of how much they know and can do and my kid still loves me and they know I love them and they were not raised by daycare.  Ok, I am not knocking working moms/kids in daycare whatsoever.  I know we're all doing the best we can do, and had it not been for some very fortunate circumstances that I was lucky enough to have, I would have been working 40 hours outside the home and Em would have been in daycare at least a couple days a week.

I am not in any way saying that daycare kids do not feel love or that they feel neglected or abandoned.  We all love our kids and working or not working is not indicative of our love for them.  BUT, being home with me these years has provided Emily with a lifetime of memories and closeness to me that she could never get from daycare.  I'm not saying daycare kids are lacking from not having that, but I do believe Emily a  received wonderful gift of getting to stay home with me.  I stayed home with my mom, and I love the memories I have of those days.  You have all your life to go to school and work, to have deadlines and rules and times you have to be someplace.  I have absolutely loved being home with Emily these last 4 years and most days not having to go anywhere, and just cuddling a lot of days, or playing and laughing.  I guess I am just saying I am very happy with my choice, and I hope most moms can say the same, whatever their personal situation is.  Yes, she may be a bit behind the other kids at first, but I would assume the teachers look for that to see which kids may need a little more help with things to "catch up".