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Mo Willems’ Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs is one of my favorite children’s books. My son has it, I’ve bought it as a gift, and when my son was younger, I read it to his class during my visit for a parent storytime. (The kids seemed to really like it.)
The book is hilarious in a way that both adults and kids will appreciate, and it’s great for reading aloud. It’s also fun to look at all the little details and Easter eggs in the illustrations — make sure to find where the Pigeon is hiding! It’s recommended for children in kindergarten through second grade.
You can find this book in hardcover for $14.62 at Amazon and $16.55 at Bookshop.
Sales of note for 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
Katy says
Good morning ladies and easy and shallow question to kick off Friday:
I have a just over 3 year old and am looking for grandparent xmas present. He loves duplos (we leaned into that hard last Christmas) and that is one of a few things that really absorb him in independent play. He had decent fine motor skills. Only child.
the question: magnatiles vs. “real” lego.
Magnatiles are constantly raved about here, but i don’t think I have ever seen them in the wild. What makes them so special? Why is it worth investing in another “set”? (lego, playmobile, paw patrol world etc). Given that he is already 3, will we get much longevity out of them? (Main starter set is C$140 ish – you can buy a lot of lego for that!)
I am 100% sure that we will ultimately be a lego household. My SIL is already making noise about hand me downs. Can a three year old get “real” lego apart? I would likely do the big generic bin of blocks and I am confident that he would be able to build things, but part of the value of the toy will be lost if i have to take everything apart if he wants to modify the structure.
Thank you. Other thoughts welcome too.
We already have wooden trains that he loves, but generally requires parent engagement, he has a kitchen centre (not used all that much). I was planning to get him some hot wheels track (racing cars is his number one passion), unless i do lego, super hero dress up stuff and my sister is tasked with finding a road roller to round out his construction vehicle set. Other grandma will go rogue and get god knows what.
Katy says
PS. My go to book for 3-5 year olds this year will be “The Magic Boat” by Kit Pearson.
I plugged her WWII series earlier in the week here for older kids. The illustrations and the story are a delight. It is a gentle story about imagination.
I will also plug the “A Boy Named Bat” books for early chapter book readers. Centers around a boy with autism whose family adopts a skunk. I read parts of it with my nephews this summer.
Anon says
Same age kid and my answer is neither for now. She has MagnaTiles at school and I agree right now it doesn’t feel worth investing in another building system. But she’s not needing real LEGOs. I think that’s more of a ~5 year old thing. She’s very happy with the Duplos for now so I don’t see a need to mess with it.
Cb says
My son is three and he does Lego in the sensory room at nursery but I think he’d struggle with them now. We are full up on duplos and brio so I’m buying a cool wooden track from vertbaudet and a sand pit (kid doesn’t feel cold so this will be a year round purchase.
Anonymous says
Real Lego is too small for a 3 year old. Magnatiles are faster to build with and pieces are bigger. As to longevity, right now my 8 and 6 year olds are building zoo enclosures with them. They also have Lego and Playmobil and other stuff. We have a starter set of Playmags plus 2 Magnatiles wheeled bases and they are so happy with them. Those two brands work together and the Playmags are less costly. I don’t think we need any more, but I’m very happy we have them. I feel like they’re used more because they’re so easy to put up and down. They also incorporate them into other things, like the zoo for animals or hot wheels transport or stuffed animal house or princess train. Initially, they were something the kids loved at daycare, and we got them around 2 years ago.
Anonymous says
My 5 year old daughter has duplos at her dad’s and magnatiles at my house. The magnatiles are amazing — she can build fairly large structures with them, and uses them as castles, houses, towns, bridges, ramps, etc along with other small toys — cars, figurines, etc, for imaginative play. For a few weeks she was all about building stables, another week it was boats that went under bridges. The magnets and plastic are strong and the structures don’t fall apart when she plays with them. There’s a lot of geometry involved in figuring out how to combine the different pieces. She also uses the pieces as pretend food more than she uses her actual play food. She’s almost old enough for real legos but still struggles (she has some small sets) — I would think a 3 year old is much too young unless they are extremely dexterous. If you are looking for a “big” present from the grandparents, I think Magnatiles are a great option and can be creatively used along with legos and duplos and any other small toys.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I agree that “real” legos are probably too soon for a 3 year old – I would give him a few years before getting those. Our kids (4.5 and 2) enjoy Magnatiles a lot – lots of creative structures, and also fun to stomp on with their feet, ha. I vote Magnatiles.
AnotherAnon says
Just another vote for Magnatiles: real legos are too hard for my 3.5 y/o ATM. He uses magnatiles almost daily, both at home and at day care. They’re easy (don’t require as much fine motor skill/strength as legos) and intuitive and collaborative. I know you said he’s an only but my only is developing good social skills by playing magnatiles with other kids at day care. THat price point does seem expensive though. Could you find a knock off version? I think that’s what we have: SIL gifted them last Christmas. I know six year olds who still use them. FWIW we are also a lego household: we have both my family’s set and DH’s family’s set but kiddo is too young/doesn’t have the strength, patience or creative skills to build things on his own like he does with magnatiles. I’m only piling on because a year a go I was in your shoes of “What’s the big deal? We don’t need another set of creative toys.” but my kiddo really loves them and it fosters a lot of independent play, which I appreciate.
Anon says
My 3YO cannot handle real legos. Does your kid have play food for the play kitchen? Our kitchen is only attractive because of the massive amounts of play food. Re: magnatiles, we have some and they almost never get used. Kiddo hasn’t quite figured out how to build with them and I don’t have the patience to sit there and build with her. If racing cars is his passion, what about a remote control car? My kid has the toddler one which she can use unsupervised, but DH also got her a “real” one which they play with on the neighborhood tennis courts and she can drive it remarkably well.
anon says
My 3yos can’t manipulate legos, so are content with their Duplos. We also have some knockoff magantiles, but they don’t gravitate to those as much because they get frustrated when trying to build tall structures.
Have you thought about wooden blocks? We have the M&D unit block crate and them some random smaller blocks and all are loved by my kids. They can spend literally hours building elaborate structures (cities, zoos, schools, vet offices, etc) and then use them as the base for playing imaginative games with their plastic animals , Duplo people, construction trucks, etc.
AwayEmily says
Honestly, I think it’s kind of a crapshoot. My 2.5yo and 4.5yo play with their their Magnatiles only rarely/desultorily (maybe because they have the at school?) They play with their big box of hand-me-down Legos more frequently. But they are both more into running around like insane people pretending they are dogs/babies/pirates/some combination of those, so none of our building toys get all that much use.
Anyway, I’d go with the known quantity. I don’t think it’s so crazy to get more Duplos if you already know he loves them. You’ll get another year out of them at least.
Anon says
Go with something not “building” so you’re not overlapping so hard with your Duplos.
Do you have Little People? My kids spent hours playing with those and still beg me to pull out the bin in the basement every so often. (Little People and Duplos are the only preschool age toys I saved.)
Looking to kindergarten, yes Lego is a hit but they really like Plus Plus blocks and Magnatiles more – I think they’re a little more open ended than Legos, and allow more imaginative creations and combinations with other toys. They also like playing with figurines like Imaginext or Polly Pocket.
If you want something completely different, maybe a few board games? At 3 mine liked the Apple First Orchard one and Hoot Owl Hoot, and then soon grew into loving Zingo and Spot It.
anon says
Sequence for Kids is my 4.5 yo’s favorite game. It’s fun for kids and adults.
anon says
We have Legos and Magnatiles, and my kids 100% gravitate toward the tiles. Even my almost 11-year-old still plays with them — obviously in a more complex way than a preschooler would. I never would’ve known about them, except that oldest kid’s preschool had them and every kid there, including mine, gravitated toward them. I don’t know how to describe what makes them special. They’re fun, they snap together easily, you can make larger structures, it’s endless open-ended play.
Anonymous says
Definitely stick with the Duplo. My kids have only switched over to the smaller regular legos around age 6. Duplo are great because they can build things much more quickly and easily than with the smaller legos so it keeps them motivated and proud of what they have built vs frustrations of it taking a long time to build something or needing a lot of adult help.
This construction related set was a huge hit with my kids and their cousins when we gifted it – https://www.lego.com/en-ca/product/truck-tracked-excavator-10812
Pogo says
That is my son’s favorite set. He has asked Santa for another giant construction set he saw in the Amazon catalog that Bezos mailed to everyone in America, seemingly. He marked the page and shows it to me every day. I told him we could cut it out to put in our letter to Santa and he was like NOooo I want to keep the picture to look at it.
So I would just get another Duplo set. It is truly hours and hours of play for my son, and he combines them with all his other toys – agree that Brio or some other train, as well as Little People are good gifts too. Magnatiles are cool but my son just isn’t into them yet.
Anon says
My 3 year old daughter is also a big fan of the Duplo construction set. I see no sign of her slowing down her Duplo play, but like some others said her play is very heavy into pretend side of things, so she likes the figurines and vehicles. My husband played with Legos from a young age but he was much more into the architecture/building aspects of it.
Spirograph says
My young 4 year old can do the very simple lego sets with parent help, and occasionally plays with them with his older siblings. He does LIKE it, it’s just not an independent activity for him yet. He will play independently with duplos and bigger blocks (we have way too many types of blocks). My daughter started building Lego sets independently around 5.
Magnatiles remain a hit with all my kids, and the oldest is 7.5. We have some off-brand type, you can get them cheaper than you said! I think you’d get a lot of use out of them. *I* like playing with magnatiles! Another option is bristle blocks
However, my best suggestion: Since he likes cars and building, if you aren’t already all-in on hot wheels, look into Twister Track or similar. I’ll put a link in a separate response. My kids love it, and typically combine with duplos, magnatiles and throw pillows to build very elaborate “carnivals.” There’s a battery-operated car that goes with it, and they really like having the car just continually going around while they modify the surrounding buildings.
Spirograph says
https://www.amazon.com/Mindscope-Twister-Flexible-Assembly-Emergency/dp/B06VVVQS7P/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=mindscope+twister+tracks+cars&qid=1605284344&sr=8-7
SC says
My son didn’t start get into real Lego, or what he calls “little Lego” until he was 4.5. I would say 3 is too young. (Also, even at 5, my son lost a tooth trying to get Legos apart.) Duplos are still great for 3. We still get a lot of use out of Duplos. They are now a bath toy, and this week my son has built a skyscraper on the back of a truck and a garden.
I vote Magnatiles. My son’s daycare had them, so I never bought them for home. But we received a set last Christmas, when he was 4.5, and he has played with them regularly all year. If you buy now, there’s plenty of longevity left.
DLC says
Magna tiles. They hurt less when you step on them.
Anon says
We are also a huge duplo household, and my kids use them more for pretend play than making buildings. (They love to build vehicles, though). My boys are 3 and 5 and we are getting Magnatiles and my older is getting LEGO this year, but if my oldest were three I would probably get neither. Younger siblings tend to “level up” on toys a little earlier because they have a big sibling to watch. How about more Duplo add-ons?
I’m also generally against getting “big tubs” of things for little kids, and instead getting smaller sets for each holiday, and then you can build out your collection in a more controlled manner (and have many future gift ideas!)
As another idea, how about a Blu Track? It’s a flexible track for hot wheels and is REALLY FUN. It’s one big piece that rolls up easily for storage.
anon says
There are cheaper alternatives to magnatiles, if you’re interested. We got a set of Picasso Tiles marble run and we like them. I keep trying to send our magnatiles to nieces and nephews and my 9 and nearly 12 year old boys won’t let me. My boys would have found this amazing a few years ago: https://www.amazon.com/PicassoTiles-Building-Educational-Construction-Coordination/dp/B07MWGZKCB/ref=asc_df_B07MWGZKCB/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312034542858&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5181822532559197121&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032737&hvtargid=pla-636980731365&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=59547955862&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312034542858&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5181822532559197121&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032737&hvtargid=pla-636980731365
Walnut says
We’re a huge fan of our Picasso Tiles. They’ve held up well and are much more affordable than magnatiles.
That said, I don’t think there is harm in adding to your Duplo collection of your kid already loves them. Our oldest is just getting into his hand-me-down regular legos at age 5.
whee says
A sled! (Presuming geographically appropriateness.)
Katy says
Thank you all for your comments! Seems like a pretty good investment.
– Kitchen – if i were doing it again, i would probably just do food / pots pans (not the actual kitchen which is large in my family room. (Previously in basement didn’t get played with at all).
– COVID preparedness: we need to upgrade to larger skates (but will get those before xmas) and will upgrade family sled. Indoor activity of choise is obstacle course (jump over pillow, crawl through tunnel from a few years back.
– I would also recommend marble run for older kids. 3 YO got it for his bday, he can’t really build it yet, but will play with it built. I kind of love it too.
– High recommend indoor hockey set if you have a carpeted play area. Seems more active than indoor basketball, safer for the walls than indoor soccer.
*** we do have too many toys for a kiddo that is full time out of the house. We have hand-me downs and my MIL’s love language is definitely gifts – BUT alas is very focused on quantity.
Anonymous says
Maybe for a 3 year old but indoor hockey is NOT safe for walls, long term. Our basement wall paneling very clearly shows where the hockey net goes. I’ll repaint before we move.
(+1 for indoor hockey set, though, all things considered. My kids do love it.)
katy says
Hahaha – agree. We have accepted that when the kiddo is about 6 -7 we will repaint the entire house / redo all hardwood floors and carpet too! Indoor soccer seemed to make immediate marks! (and rec rooms walls again i am sure when he is a teen!)
(Flooring will make sense for the age of the home at that time – we purposely didn’t really do anything when we moved in anticipating baby / toddler etc!)
Mrs. Jones says
Our 3-year-old could put together and take apart real Legos.
Anonymous says
+1. I wouldn’t invest in more Duplos at age 3.
Spirograph says
This is so interesting to me! I grew up in a Duplo house. We never had Lego. I played with Lego at my cousins’ house, but we were all Duplo all the time at home and I have such fond memories of building with my siblings and my dad. Like, until I was in middle school and too cool to play with toys in general. This was partly because we had pet gerbils and built cities for them — it would have taken way too long to build anything for gerbils out of Lego.
My mom still has a giant rubbermaid tub of Duplos at her house, they’re the only toy she saved.
Anonymous says
I think it depends on how the kid prefers to build. For creative building, Duplo is great and can even be more fun than Lego for older kids. If your kid, like mine, is more interested in following directions to build the cute complicated things exactly as pictured on the box, they will get bored with Duplos very quickly.
Anon says
My 5.5 yr old still happily plays with Duplo daily, as does his younger brother. But they are all about imaginative play
Pogo says
Yes, as I said above, my 3yo does not seem to want to stop Duplos any time soon and he’s used real Legos at school. But he’s all about pretend play as well, he has little stories going on all the time with the people and their vehicles.
anon says
When do kids start doing things more independently? My almost 5 year old takes baths, not showers, and I still wash her hair, etc. I help her with brushing her teeth (I brush first, then she takes a turn). She wipes her bottom and then I wipe (which she definitely still needs). How can I teach her to do these things more independently and feel confident it’s done right? Particularly the butt wiping, ha. She’s otherwise pretty independent–gets dressed on her own, shoes on her own, gets water on her own, buckles herself into carseat, etc. I guess I just don’t know how to teach things like hair washing. Any tips?
Anonymous says
I think it’s easier for kids to wash their own hair in the shower, particularly if they don’t like putting their head in the water or getting water in their ears.
Clementine says
So. Two things here. One, kids are different but normally I expect kids are able to wipe by age 4, wash their own hair between age 6 and 7, and shower/bathe fairly independently around age 8. Tooth brushing is supervised until around age 7 and hair is able to be done (unless your kiddo is in a protective style that requires additional adult assistance) around age 8.
Here’s the kicker though: They’re not going to do it as well as you do. They’re gonna do a pretty crummy job some days. They’re going to still have soap in their hair or their hairstyle is going to be ‘creative’ or whatever. But… that’s how they learn and I’m cool with that. With the wiping thing, we just would do a baby wipe in the evening (if it wasn’t a bath night) while they were getting better at it. I do draw the line at tooth brushing, but that’s different/higher stakes to me.
Anonymous says
This is a great guide, thank you Clementine!
CPA Lady says
Agree with this. And not only is it going to be not as good of a job, but it’s going to take a lot longer.
Also, an important part of teaching them how to do hygiene tasks is showing them each step of the process, including how much soap, shampoo, and toothpaste to use. My mom couldn’t understand why my sister’s hair always looked really greasy in late elementary/early middle school, even when she was showering every couple of days. Come to find out, she thought she should be using a tiny amount of shampoo on her long, very thick hair, which we only discovered when we were playing beauty salon with our barbies and she was shocked that I was using “so much shampoo” on the doll.
anne-on says
Omg yes, THIS, showing them every.single.step in the process. I literally went through hair washing like this – first you wet your hair, then you make your hands into claws and scrape them around in your hair (my son and I have thick hair, if he doesn’t do this the water literally won’t get down to his scalp), then we use about a quarter sized amount of shampoo, use your claws to make lots of bubbles, then use your claws to rinse it all out. Make sure to tilt your head all around/turn your body to get all the soap out. There were absolutely days he’d get out of the shower with suds on the crown of his head. Ditto with having to explain that yes, you need to wash your feet when you shower (the soap running down your body doesn’t do it) and how to either sit down in the tub to scrub them or put them on the tub ledge. This was after being accosted with the smell of little boy feet in my face after he ‘showered’ himself.
Fwiw, our dentist now suggests parents help with tooth brushing up until 10 unless she tells them otherwise…
Anonymous says
Age 10? I can’t imagine a kid allowing “help” with toothbrushing after about age 4. This is what the Sonicare toothbrush with the quad timer is for.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Clementine’s age ranges sound about right to me. From talking with my coworkers with older kids, they were still helping their daughters with hair washing (long hair) until 6-7, bathing independently after that. So I think you’re right on track if she’s almost 5 now. For reference, my 4.5 year old can dress himself (with a lot of prodding, but what can you do), can put shoes on, can wipe (but we typically do a wipe after) and we still do his baths (with little brother). We brush his teeth once, then he does his teeth again, and we floss.
Pogo says
Just a caveat to be careful w/ the wiping and diligent with the baby wipe method (which sounds great) as a friend’s daughter got a terrible rash and then constipation as a result of holding because of fear re: rash pain, which of course created a vicious cycle of poop pain. They made it through, but it sounded awful at the time.
anon says
I think the hair question is very specific to the type of hair. My 7 yo has very thick hair and we let her wash her own hair in the shower about 50% of the time. The other half of the time we help to make sure she’s getting her scalp clean. It’s hard to do, even for me. Her hair is heavy and dense and it takes work to get the shampoo into the layers. My other kids has much less hair and I expect that she will be able to shampoo on her own much sooner.
anne-on says
You may want to look into a rubber scalp scrubber, my niece used one as a kid and it was really helpful for thick hair.
Anonymous says
I tell my five year old twins they have to wipe three times then I will come check. Usually it’s fine. Sometimes they don’t ask me to check. Still wash their hair in the shower or bath because they hate soap in their eyes. 8 year old daughter has long hair and she does the shampoo. I make sure the shampoo is well rinsed and then do conditioner and comb while conditioner is in, then she rinses. Dentist said to supervise teeth brushing (they brush then you brush) until at least age 7 as smaller kids are not reliable about getting all parts of their mouth.
Redux says
PSA: shutterfly 50% off sale is now!!
And here’s a grinchy question for you: what do you do with your kids’ leftover halloween candy? We have a large mixing bowl full of candy that we need to put the kibosh on– it’s long been picked over for the good stuff and I don’t want them eating blow pops every day from here until next summer (peanut-free school = LOTS of blowpops). I’ve taken some of it to my office but it’s not moving very quickly there either. Throw it away I guess?
Lyssa says
We have a habit of dumping all excess candy (why is there so much excess candy in my life?) in a tote bag in the pantry – after meals, the kids can pick one for a treat. We live in a very generous neighborhood, so the Halloween haul lasts a long time (and Christmas, Valentines, Easter just gets dumped on top). If it starts to get really really old, we’ll toss it, but they’ll keep eating off it until spring easily. I figure it’s candy; it doesn’t really go bad.
Redux says
That what we have done for the last two weeks, plus my 1st grader gets a piece in her lunchbox. But the little one is only 3 and between the sugar and the tantrums, it is not working for us to have it around. If it were chocolate we would keep it until it was gone, but this is blowpops (which take forever to consume), sour patch kids (who likes those?), and gummy bears (which are hard).
I can remember being at this stage in my own candy bowl as a kid (though much later in the year owing to the no-peanuts rule) and begrudgingly eating those peanut butter taffy candies that came in the orange and black wax paper and like tootsie rolls. And smarties. Bottom of the barrel!
Anonymous says
I will take the sour patch kids!
Redux says
You got it! I’ll even throw in a couple of Tear Jerkers which made my kid drool and spit it out within seconds!
anon says
We do the same (it’s available on treat nights, not every day). We pick out what obviously won’t get eaten and then it keeps. Even if it’s hidden in the pantry and available for special treats. I bring candy for trips, airplane rides etc (basically, times when I might need to whip out something special).
Anonymous says
If no one wants to eat it, it is trash. Throw it out.
AnonATL says
Someone on my Nextdoor said something about local dentists accepting candy donations. They send it to some charity that sends it to the military. Sorry I don’t have more specific information than that, but you could probably call around a few dentists or the USO might know more.
Anonymous says
We adopted my mom’s system. The kids go through the candy on Halloween night and pick out the good stuff to keep. The Blow Pops and other icky stuff gets thrown out immediately. They get to eat one piece a night until Thanksgiving, then whatever is left disappears.
anonamama says
local Meals on Wheels!
Anonymous says
thanks for the Shutterfly tip!
As for candy, throw it away.
We’re down to only Almond Joys left from Halloween, and they’re all going in the trash tonight unless one of my kids magically develops a liking for them.
NotGrinchy says
Use it to decorate gingerbread houses! I unwrap everything, put in muffin tins, and it supplements the kit-provided candy so I don’t have to buy anything extras. Then, because it’s all unwrapped, anything unused goes in the trash totally guilt free.
Redux says
this is a great idea! thanks!
Boston Legal Eagle says
We have a lot of Elephant & Piggies books from Mo Willems that I generally like but this Goldilocks one was a little much for us. Too many in-jokes for parents that just makes it annoying to read.
AwayEmily says
I could not agree more. Books that have jokes aimed at parents are my least favorite. My kids are confused, I don’t find them funny, and it’s just not worth our time. If you’re writing a book for kids, write a book for kids. I don’t need to be entertained.
anon says
We had this book from the library back in March (so read it a TON because we were all stuck at home with nothing to do) and my 3 and 4 yos found it hilarious every time. So I guess it depends on the kid!
AwayEmily says
Oh, my kids like it just fine. It’s just me who’s a grouch about it.
Anonymous says
This. My 6 year old still asks for it all the time. They like pointing out the jokes.
Another holiday card question... says
Another holiday cards questions -are there any sites that allow you to adjust dimensions of the pictures? Photo book style almost?
Pogo says
I feel like they all let you customize to the extent that you can with their built in tools? Though I have never tried.
Anonymous says
Those of you whose kids share a room, two questions. My 4 year old and 2 year old love sharing, and it is adorable to hear them chatting at night and in the morning. But I suspect 4 year old is ready to stay up later, and I don’t want to her to keep 2 year old awake- we were thinking maybe give her a flashlight for reading? I think staggered bedtimes would be too disruptive (I think she would wake 2 year old up to chat when she goes to bed).
Also, naps- currently they nap separately- 2 year old in pack n play in the office, 4 year old has quiet time in her room. When 2 year old outgrows pack n play, I guess we then have to let 4 year old loose in the house? I would love to keep her confined for “quiet time” but I don’t see a way of doing that if 2 year old still needs to nap.
AwayEmily says
I have a 4.5 and 2.5yo who are a room, and they also love it! We actually have the opposite problem — the 4.5yo no longer naps and is exhausted by 7:30, whereas the 2.5yo takes long naps at school and is often awake until well after 8 and up early. So, our goal is keeping the toddler quiet. We have a couple of things to help us deal.
1) Hatch light: we have three settings. Purple means it’s okay for them to talk to each other. Yellow means BE QUIET. Green means it’s time to get up. Usually we give them about ten minutes of purple in the evening, and another ten in the morning. The morning one is great because the 2.5yo is usually already awake and as soon as it turns purple he yells “PURPLE! IT’S PURPLE!” at his sister. She is a total grump when we wake her up, but somehow her brother yelling at her is just fine.
2) Munchkin owl lights: they each have one in their bed/crib, and are allowed to use them as long as they want at night to look at books. Usually the 2.5yo spends about 20 minutes looking at books before going to sleep. 4.5 goes to sleep immediately.
As for naps, we nap the 2.5yo in their shared room. The 4.5yo knows that it’s her quiet time — she can color, listen to audiobooks on her headphone, etc. Depends on the kid but it’s been fine for us. The audiobooks in particular keep her pretty chill; she will often just sit near me and listen while I’m working.
Pogo says
that is so cute about the hatch light.
Redux says
My kids are slightly older– 3 and 6– and this is our situation, too. The 3 year old is bouncy trouncy fun fun fun fun fun, and the 6 year old just wants to sleep. We set up a quiet reading area in their room and told the 3 year old to go in there and read in the mornings until the ok-to-wake clock changes. It works 50% of the time. It helps when we put little surprises in there for him– changing out the books, a puzzle, or a flashlight. I think it’s really sweet that they share a room but I do worry that we are depriving the 6 year old of sleep. We have the space for them each to have their own room so I am considering separating them because the 3 year old is only getting worse in terms of bothering the 6 year old.
Anonymous says
My kids shared a room until 7.5 and 5.5. They each had a Boon flashlight/nightlight they could use to stay up and “read.” They were pretty good about sleeping through the other one making light noises but we kept bedtime the same (earlier) time and just let them read quietly in bed if they weren’t tired. Some of my favorite memories are of them cuddled up together in one bed, my oldest whisper-reading to my youngest.
Neither of my kids napped once they turned 2, so I can’t help much there.
Anonymous says
I have twin almost 4-year-olds, so it’s not quite the same, but only one naps so their sleep schedules are sadly no longer synced. They are very good at sleeping through each other, though, because they’ve shared a room since they came home from the NICU.
Naptime: Twin A naps in the office while Twin B has quiet time in their room. We have a couch in the office and she just curls up with a blanket and a pillow and falls asleep. We tried to keep them together even once B stopped napping but she would inevitably keep A awake and he would be cranky all evening. Once your 2yo outgrows the pnp, maybe look into a nap mat like at daycare or a travel cot?
Bedtime: We put both kids down at the same time. Because B doesn’t nap, she usually falls asleep right away, regardless of what her brother is doing. A will generally stay away chatting to himself or his stuffed animals for 45-60 minutes and then fall asleep. We don’t let A have books at bedtime because then B would want them and would stay up later than ideal.
We tried AwayEmily’s approach of having a color that meant they could talk to each other after bedtime, but that just led to riots when it turned off. When their light turns purple in the morning whoever is awake will get up and look at books, but they know not to be loud enough to wake up their sibling until it turns green. This actually works surprisingly well.
school openings/closings says
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/13/world/schools-covid-europe-us-lockdown-intl/index.html
And interesting article about how things are being handled in different countries. BIL is a teacher in Europe and his school has the 14-18 year olds sent home for virtual teaching but the 10-14 year olds are still receiving in person instruction. Covid rate in their area is actually slightly worse than US average.
Anon says
My local government just issued a stay at home order that recognizes that in-person school is essential. Most school districts have middle school and younger in person with mask mandates. I was so pleased and relieved!
Boston Legal Eagle says
I completely agree with Europe’s decision and I hope the same is adopted here. Yes, there is a risk that Covid is spread more in school, but the essential nature of school is too important. I think a big reason that they’re not implementing closures of bars, restaurants, etc. around here is that there is not enough money approved to pay the workers who will be laid off, whereas in Europe they have more protections. So frustrating.
Anon says
Our elementary school closed for two weeks because of one case; we’re in an every-other-week cohort system and they won’t even let the unaffected cohort attend. It’s kind of annoying because as people catch cases in the community there is going to keep being “one case” showing up at school. Our county DOH is being really strict (NY).
Anon says
Yup this is how you do it. Disappointing that (most of) the US isn’t taking the same approach. Our county’s public schools are going virtual as of Monday but everything else is still open. Officially, schools are supposed to reopen the Monday after Thanksgiving but I don’t see that happen, given how many people will be having Thanksgiving dinner with friends or family.
Sandi says
Not sure what is wrong with this page, but somehow twice now when I was in the middle of typing, it punted me back to the homepage and my text disappeared. Maybe related to certain ads appearing in the sidebar? Grr! Apologies if this posts in partial triplicate.
My middle son just started at a play-based nursery school. He’s the oldest in his class (turned 4 just after school started). He is very smart, but also contrarian, wild, high-energy and attention-seeking. We’ve had to deal with hitting and non-cooperation issues at home and at his prior care setup, and I’ve checked in with his teachers a few times at his new school to make sure he’s doing okay, generally at times when he’s indicated that he’s had behavior issues. They’ve always reassured me that it’s within the range of normal for his age, that he isn’t the only kid in class working on these challenges, etc. However, we just had formal parent-teacher conferences, and they told us that his behavior is so bad that he needs a teacher dedicated to him at all times, to keep him on track. Like, if he’s painting at the easel, one of the three teachers is right there with him to make sure he doesn’t go wild (and lead the other kids to follow him – despite the hitting, he’s apparently a popular kid and thus can be a bad influence). He also has trouble joining group activities and following group instructions. Apparently he’s improved a bit in recent weeks, but I doubt it’s permanent given the ups and downs of his behavior for the past few years. They didn’t threaten to expel him or anything, but I’m just taken aback by how difficult he seems to be, and how they didn’t share at our informal catch-up calls earlier in the year or on any of my several one-off emails checking in on his behavior based on his own feedback. I have a feeling that part of the issue is the rigidity of the class due to COVID, and maybe some of it is sleep-related, and maybe some of it is my fault because our weekday mornings are always hectic…but it’s really hard to assess especially because he likes to play games when he knows we’re looking for a straight answer on how he’s feeling, or why, or how school is, or what changes he’d like to see. He even tells tall tales about his day, so we have no idea what they actually do in school. Like I said, he is very smart, and in a sneaky way. I’ve talked with my psychologist about this and read plenty of parenting books, but I’m not finding any of that helpful today. Bottom line — what can I do about this? Or do I just accept that we’re at capacity, he’s not at risk of being expelled, and we’ll just have to keep muddling and hope he grows out of this eventually?
Anonymous says
I think you have him evaluated for special education services. Even though he’s not yet kindergarten age talk to your local public school district. I think it’s time for an assessment
No Face says
Agreed. My 4 year old is doing great with special services. She is at the point where she doesn’t need as much help as she used to, but the special ed classes have a better teacher:student ratio so the kids get more attention.
Anonymous says
I agree. Call preschool early intervention where you are (in my state the school district doesn’t handle this and it’s a separate agency that does ages 3 to 5) and ask for an assessment. He may qualify for special instruction or occupational therapy. I would also call his pediatrician and ask for recommendations on getting a private evaluation for ADHD.
Since you also say that he’s bright, I would take a look at whether the challenges occur when he might be bored, and whether the teachers can provide some materials that are more appropriate for him. For example — if they are having a lot of issues at circle time when they’re going over letters and numbers and he’s already mastered those, can he look at a book instead? Be “teacher’s helper” and point out the letters or show how to trace them?
Unfortunately, in my experience, the teachers will tell you its within the range of normal and that they can handle it right up until the day when, without warning, the director calls to ask him to withdraw.
Pogo says
My frustration would be that they didn’t bring this up earlier! I would make an effort to get him evaluated – if the school district doesn’t offer it/won’t because he’s not in K yet, you could always pay out of pocket and see what insurance covers for outpatient (I thought about doing this for my son’s speech when the public pre-k got cancelled). It very well may be in the realm of normal, but couldn’t hurt to help him get some strategies to cope. I don’t think it’s your hectic mornings or COVID or anything – everyone is dealing with those things, and I’m sure you’re doing your best! Definitely better to get an evaluation (pre-k teachers aren’t child psychologists or occupational therapists) than have him struggle in K.
AwayEmily says
I definitely don’t think there’s a down side in getting an evaluation, but honestly, I would trust the teachers on this. They have seen SO many kids and if they say that this is within the range of normal, then I would believe them. And if he’s improving, then I would take that as a good sign rather than just another fluctuation. Keep checking in with the teachers (and asking them for advice!), try to get him lots of sleep, and trust your gut. It sounds like you are doing great, and I suspect that one of the reasons the teachers aren’t so worried is because they see that he’s a smart, fundamentally good kid with caring parents. Good luck.
Anonymous says
In my experience, trusting teachers to identify what’s out of the range of normal is not a good idea. Their idea of “normal” is different from what the expectations are/should be for an individual child. For example, if your child is very intelligent and can compensate for some ADHD symptoms, the teachers won’t notice that there’s a problem.
anon says
This. Had I known better, I would’ve gotten my son evaluated for ADHD so much earlier. We took teachers at their word, which was a mistake given how many difficulties we were having.
Anonymous says
Aaaaand likewise our preschool has flagged SO MANY boys as potentially abnormal who have all been evaluated as normal, including ours, who had some issues similar to yours. Sometimes the school’s expectations are inappropriate for the age, even experienced teachers.
Anon says
+1. I don’t have a special needs kid but my experience is teacher’s over diagnose rather than under diagnose.
Anonymous says
How much outside time are they getting? My kids always have a much harder time when they are not outside enough. Can the school think about changing up strategies? Like if he doesn’t paint nicely then he doesn’t get to paint that day or the next day. He gets reminded at the start of the painting session. What’s the consequence for hitting at home? If he gets a 4 minute time out at home, can they give him a 4 minute time out in the director’s office at daycare?
Roleplaying how to ask to play with other kids. Even simple things like “Can I play too? / Can I play with you? / what are you playing?” are hard for kids starting out. Practice one or two phrases he can use. Take turns being the kid who is playing and the one who is asking to play.
I’d dial back on the asking him about his feelings. It’s a lot for a 4 year old to both identify a feeling and articulate why they felt that way. We ask their best thing and worst/hardest thing each day and that tends to get them talking about what is happening.
layered bob says
Not sure if I’m looking for advice or just venting… mostly a vent, for which I’d take advice if available.
We have to pack a lunch for my kindergartener. Usually snacks/lunches are provided by the school but they stopped due to COVID (not sure why, just, the rule). So this is new for us.
School does not permit any nuts, pine nuts or sesame due to allergies in her class, and lunches must be cold. We are pescatarian. Kid is not at all a picky eater at home, but she has lots of criteria for things she will eat at school – no fish, no vegetables that we would normally serve hot (e.g. she loves steamed or roasted broccoli served hot at home but won’t eat raw or cold broccoli at school, she likes black beans on a taco or potato at home but won’t eat them cold at school) or things she would normally eat with a dip (e.g. she loves carrots and celery with peanut butter or hummus at home but I can’t send peanut butter or hummus to school). Sunbutter is permitted at school and she’ll eat a little bit of it but she doesn’t really love it.
She is also my kid who is most affected by not eating enough/blood sugar swings – my other kids are fine to eat a big breakfast and a big after-school snack and just nibble at their morning snack + lunch, but that just does not suit her at this stage of her growth. So I feel like I am always scrambling to figure out what the heck I can pack her that meets all of these many, many restrictions/criteria… I get SO frustrated coming up with ways to vary the same narrow set of ingredients and still include protein and vegetables and come up with basically the same thing every day (hard boiled egg, cheese sandwich, cucumber slices and grapes pretty much every day this week, with crackers, cheese and apple slices for morning snack…. she’s sick of it and so am I).
I so wish her school would go back to providing lunches… they were varied, reasonably healthy and she loved lunch time, and now it’s a frustration every day. I should probably sit down with her and just list out all the possible foods we can think of that she will agree to eat at school and I am willing to make and then we mutually resign ourselves to it being a pretty short list. (My husband does almost everything else at home and lunch packing is my one contribution so “make DH help” is off the table.)
Redux says
What were the school lunches like before? Can you crib from that list of the served-cold options?
We are vegetarian and in a nut-free school for the first time this year and it is hard! My kid is not as sensitive as yours to the hot/cold thing, but she is a lackluster lunch eater. We have success with cold quesadillas w/black beans because my kid loves them enough to eat them cold. Besides that we do what you do– a pretty boring rotation of cheese, veggies, and fruit.
Anonymous says
If she doesn’t like cold vegetables, will she eat soup? Liquidy foods like soup, curry, and stew will stay hot until lunch in a Thermos container if you preheat it with boiling water before pouring the hot food in.
Anonymous says
So will things like pasta!
Anonymous says
I haven’t had luck with pasta unless there is enough sauce to prevent any air bubbles.
anne-on says
I’d go with a list. For summer camp lunches my son and I came up with a list of 8, and we rotated among them. Hits that worked for us – breakfast for lunch (waffles or pancakes, cold, with syrup and berries), quesadillas (chicken for us, maybe beans for you?), tortilla roll ups (tortillas with cheese/topping/spinach) rolled into a log and sliced into rounds, bagel with cream cheese and jelly, veggie nuggets (I fully just bought the Dr. Praegers spinach ones and heated them up and then sent them in lukewarm). He also got either applesauce or fruit, and his choice of cold veggie (usually peppers/carrots/cucumbers) along with a small treat (like, one cookie, or 5 gummy bears).
Anonymous says
My oldest is dairy, fish, peanut, hazelnut, egg, pinenut allergic. School has also banned coconut because principal has decided it’s a nut even though it’s not- sigh. School doesn’t allow the peanut butter looking nut butters – it’s a real advantage that you can use those. Wow butter is much better than Sunbutter. Sunbutter is gross. Middle kid will also not eat anything his sister is allergic to. And I can’t send the types of nuts she can eat. I have a meal plan worked out for the week because that’s the only way I would survive. You don’t have to have a different meal every day. It’s totally fine for Monday to be the same thing every week. I’m confused why the lunches must be cold, can they not bring a thermos with pasta? Thermos with pasta is my Tuesday/Thursday meal. I often do pancakes or chili in the Thermos as well.
Sample meal plan:
Monday: – recess – Nature’s Bakery Whole Wheat fig bars (kids actually like these)
– lunch – veggie wrap (I usually do two small wraps with lettuce, tomato, peppers (I add bacon),
banana chips, yoghurt
Tuesday – recess – Clif bar – chocolate chip (most contain nuts, the chocolate chip ones do not)
– -lunch, Pasta salad, apple, popcorn
Wednesdy – recess – pretzels
– lunch – chopped red and yellow peppers, grapes, and I do a ham sandwich but you could do a wow butter sandwich or wow butter and jam if she likes PB and J at home. Cut sandwiches into triangles which are easier for little hands.
Thursday – recess – apple sauce squeezie pack and banana
lunch – crackers, cheese, olives as main with apple or grapes as dessert and a yoghurt
Friday – recess – fruit roll up (they look forward to this all week)
lunch – wow butter sandwich or veggie wraps, fruit cup, carrot sticks.
Hope some of that helps. I didn’t realize how valuable it was to have a daycare that provided all meals until we started elementary school and I had to pack all the lunches. Definitely work out a five day meal plan and stick with that for now.
Anonymous says
The Trader Joe’s sunflower butter is so much better than Sunbutter brand.
FVNC says
My 2nd grader was a nut-free school last year and we relied heavily on cream cheese sandwiches, quesadillas or cheese pizza as the “main”. Pizza and quesadilla seemed okay at room temp for her.
Random idea (but it’s what I eat for lunch a lot, so) — what about chickpeas and diced avocado, with a olive oil and salt and pepper? Throw in another fruit and it’s a pretty hearty lunch.
Realist says
You can get freeze dried veggies if she would be into those. Maybe there are some other prepared foods on there that would work. You can mix protein powder into apple sauce and other foods to add protein. For dips, can you send homemade hummus that doesn’t have pine nuts (if it is ok to not be labeled). Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are also options.
Anon says
My kids love some random lunches (similar restrictions to you, although we can include hummus):
– Pinwheel ham and cheese – rolling pin to a piece of bread and then roll it around slices of ham and cheese. seriously their fave meal. you could adapt to include eggs and cheese?
– Cold grilled cheese triangles with cold tomato soup in a thermos
– Caprese salad – sliced tomatoes, mozza balls, and basil on the side
– Avocado toast with salmon tomatoes and parmesan
– Any kind of savory muffin with honey butter, esp if i include a mini popsicle stick to spread it
– Bagels with cream cheese and blueberries (“breakfast at lunch”)
They pack their own snacks but it has to follow the same formula every day – fruit plus carb or protein. So pretzels plus grapes, string cheese plus apple, trader joes fruit strips plus goldfish.
Anonymous says
How about pinwheels with a whole-wheat tortilla or lavash, cream cheese, and veggies like chopped spinach, bell peppers, shredded carrots, and tomato?
Anonymous says
Do you have time/inclination to bake? I make a lot of muffins with healthy ingredients to use as snacks (so minimal sugar, good fats, whole grains, often something with protein, veggies). My kids think they’re a treat and when paired with a fruit I figure they’re getting a balanced snack.
SC says
Commiseration. We’re not vegetarian, but my kid doesn’t particularly like meat or eggs or cheese, plus he takes a medication that suppresses his appetite. Most days, he eats very little at school, and DH brings a snack to pickup.
For protein, try shelled edamame tossed in a little oil and salt. Since you can’t use a nut oil or sesame oil, maybe try pumpkin seed oil.
Try a black bean or white bean dip with the raw veggies she likes. You can also buy those individual packets of guacamole. Change up the fruit with whatever looks good at the store that week–bananas, berries, tiny citrus, pineapple, etc.
Maybe this is too obvious and you’ve already tried it, but could you buy a thermos that would keep food warm? That way, you could pack a hearty soup or beans + potato or whatever else she will eat warm.
For your own sanity, think about protein needs as a daily need vs every meal. If she gets protein at breakfast and dinner, it will be OK if she eats less of it at school.
I actually think it’s a great idea to have her make a list of what she will eat. Or have her help pick out 2-3 items in each food group that will appear in her lunch that week.
layered bob says
this is very, very helpful. thank you, everyone.
I had never heard of Wow butter and will check it out, along with TJ’s sunflower butter, because that would open up our options if she likes them. I also should re-examine whether I can send foods hot in thermos – the guidance from the school at the beginning of the year was “lunches must be cold” but maybe that just means there isn’t a way to warm them up, not that I couldn’t send something that’s warm – I should check.
I personally love cold leftovers and prefer cold pizza, cold quesadillas, cold falafel etc. so her refusal to eat things cold is really frustrating to me, but that is a “me” problem and I should start looking for more things that are meant to be served cold, like the chickpea/avocado suggestion. She also just eats a really high volume of food (we all do; my husband is 6’7″ and I am 5’10” and we’re an active family; she is 50″ + 50 lbs. and can put away an unbelievable volume of pancakes) so packing ENOUGH just seems like an overwhelming task, but I have clearly been putting too much stress/worry energy into this and not enough problem-solving energy.
anon says
Our preschool had the same “cold food only” rule due to covid, but for them it meant they would no longer heat up food in the microwave, so worth double-checking!
We’re also not allowed to send anything reusable like thermoses, but if they’re letting you use lunchboxes you should be safe there.
Anonymous says
Our school’s cold food only rule just means no using the microwave. We have pretty good luck with thermoses. Mac and cheese is always an easy win. My kids are less enthused about soup, but pasta leftovers usually work. Hot roasted chickpeas are among my kids’ favorite things, but I’m only rarely on top of things enough in the morning to roast them during breakfast so I can transfer straight to the thermos.
Coach Laura says
My son liked bean vegetarian chili in his thermos along with leftover soup or pasta.
Mary Moo Cow says
Is the school rule that lunches have to be cold? If not, I second the recommendation to get a thermos Funtainer. I started K with a bento box, but bought a few Funtainers recently so Kiddo would have some variety and some hot food. Things I’ve packed warm: chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries, warm mini pumpkin muffins, a waffle cut into strips, pancake, warmed leftover fajitas; oatmeal. You could also do warm cheese sticks with pizza sauce for dipping, a warm giant pretzel deconstructed, a quesadilla, or noodles in the Funtainer.
For cold options, chips and salsa; baby carrots, bell pepper strips, celery, or snow peas with ranch or dip or hummus. This definitely feels harder to me.
Otherwise, I feel you — I went from having snack and lunch provided at daycare to making nut free lunches for a kid who hates cheese and deli meat and only likes certain foods at certain temps or paying $7 for chain restaurant delivery for lunch. It’s been an adjustment.
anon says
I would note that my kids ate the same lunch every day for many years because one of them was picky and I didn’t really have time to accommodate. If you find a combo that works and they like it, I wouldn’t worry too much about variety. For us, it was some variation of yogurt (plain whole milk or Trader Joe’s nonfat Greek, which is lowish in sugar), granola (nut free), a fruit and crackers.
Anon says
I would try a thermos funtainer for your things that were previously hot. I used to send my preschooler (back when we had preschool) with chicken nuggets or beef and rice in the thermos and her teachers said they were still warm at lunch.
As for variety, I am not a fan of lunch meant. When my mom packed my school lunches, it was often a salad, or potato soup in a thermos (bear creek powdered soup mix was my favorite), or spaghetti in a thermos.
Anonymous says
omg bear creek powdered soup is delicious. my husband has been doing nearly all covid grocery shopping so I haven’t been able to impulse buy when I happen to see it and remember I love it, so I haven’t had it in ages! That’s going on the grocery list right now, thank you.
Anon says
Ugh this sounds tough. I would not put too much pressure on variety, though – if you are mixing it up at breakfast, dinner, and on the weekend, kiddo will be okay.
Anon says
Inspired by the comment above, anyone have any great tricks for keeping water out of your kids’ faces when you rinse their hair? My kids inevitably twist around, which gets more water in their face than if they just kept tipping their head backwards. We keep a dry washcloth on hand to wipe their eyes after each pour, but are there brilliant solutions I’m missing?
Spirograph says
You’re nicer than I am. :) We use no-tears shampoo, and if the kids don’t tip their heads back, it is self-critiquing.
EB0220 says
We used a bath visor for years and it was amazing.
Anon says
Any reqs for one? I remember these from when I was a kid but didn’t realize they were still around!
EB0220 says
We had the Kair Air Cushioned Bath Visor (in kid’s favorite color of course). $15 on you know where.
Anonymous says
They hold a facecloth over their eyes while getting their hair washed. Dry one nearby to dry faces afterwards.
Anon says
My child came home demanding this after she visited Grammy. Where Grammy got the idea I have no clue because she was certainly not that concerned when we were kids – you tilted your head back and held still or it was your own fault. Personally, I use one hand to pour and I cup the other tightly on DD’s forehead just below the hairline while she tilts her head back. Having a hand on her head helps keep the wiggles down, and doesn’t result in a gazillion more wash clothes in the laundry.
Anon says
I have that Skip Hop whale pitcher with that rubber thing that goes against their head. I tilt my kid’s head up with a hand on the chin and it never gets in his eyes.
CHL says
goggles
Private School Holiday Gifts?? says
Follow on to the question about holiday gifts yesterday — what is appropriate to gift early elementary teachers at a private school?
We always gave sizeable cash gifts to daycare teachers. Our public school had explicit caps on the value of gifts and teachers filled out a “favorite things” list, so we did small gift cards & edible treats. Where do private schools fall on this spectrum? If it matters, it’s a Montessori school, so one kid is in a true elementary class, but the kindergartener is in the 3-6 year old class, preschool/K hybrid.
Mary Moo Cow says
The school might have a favorite things list — one of our schools keeps it in the office and it is available on request, and the other school publishes it. It might exist but not be published.
Is there a room parent? He or she might coordinate a group gift (either a single check or gift card from pooled funds or something like a gift card wreath or tree.)
If neither of these are an option, from the former and current teachers in my life, gift cards over consumables or trinkets (just because taste is so personal.) I think it really depends on your area, and a frustratingly wide range of $25-$100 would be acceptable. I usually give $50 T-arget gift cards when they are discounted on the Black Friday deal or $50 to the grocery store that also has a gas station, and give one for each teacher and aide.
AnotherAnon says
My kiddo attends Montessori and one of the moms (she’s the self-designated room mom, which I appreciate) always puts together a donation and gift. If you don’t have a room mom, I personally think it’s fine to gift generously: both $ and a small gift card. I know they’re not in it for the money but the things my kid has learned from them – I wouldn’t have even known to teach. I really appreciate their positive influence in his life.