Toddlers and the Concept of Time

     Last night, while riding in the car on the way home from Grammy & Papa’s house, Middle A asked us if Christmas was tomorrow. Would Santa be coming to our house? D and I explained to her that the Christmas holiday is over for now, but we’ll do it again next year.  Middle A is almost 3. The girl has no concept of time. She uses the words yesterday, last week, tomorrow, and next week interchangeably. She was confused, but at least understood that Christmas wasn’t happening again for a while.
     She was upset by this news, so I tried to put a fun twist on it. I told her we still had lots of birthdays and Valentine’s Day, and Easter, and summertime....at which point she interrupted with a one-word question: “Summertime?”
     Of course, I explained to her that that’s when it’s hot outside and we get to do fun things like going to the lake, and to the beach, and the water park. Then she got excited. I was under the impression that she was satisfied with this explanation, but I was wrong. She had discovered something new to look forward to.....the beach.
     Fast-forward to today. Middle A has asked me no less than 372 times when we’re going to the beach. I explained to her that we had to wait until it’s hot outside. Her reply? “Mommy, the sun is shining!” So I told her we had to wait until there are lots of green leaves on the trees. Her reply? (While looking at the pine trees outside the window), “There are lots of green leaves over there!”  I tried to tell her how cold she would be outside in her swimsuit. She told me she could wear a coat. The problem is, she isn’t 100% wrong about any of these, but we simply cannot go to the beach in January.

     She’s walking around the house dressed like this:

Yes, that is a swimsuit. Yes, it is cold here. 

She doesn’t seem to mind. 

     She is still asking me when we get to go to the beach. I keep telling her we can go in the summer when it’s hot. She just isn’t getting it. I decided as a consolation I would at least give the poor girl a pedicure since she’s walking around the house in flip flops. 

At least her toes are cute. Right? 

So parents, how did you get your 2 & 3 year-olds to understand the concept of time? Do you do fun time-telling activities? Do you have posters or charts to teach them days/months/seasons, etc..? I taught 2 year-olds in daycare before I became a mom, so I always did a circle-time to teach these things to my class. Is it ridiculous to do that at home, too? What do you think?

P.S. Now Middle A wants to go to the park. It’s a step closer to home, and a drier one at that....but NO THANKS! 

Book Review: The Lonely Christmas Tree

       

The Lonely Christmas Tree


by Brent A. Marthaller

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Publisher: Tate Publishing

Page Count: 24 Pages

Genre: Children's, Inspirational, Motivational, Spiritual

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Book Synopsis

The Lonely Christmas Tree is born with a purpose to be cherished by someone at Christmas. When the tree is the last one remaining in the lot, the tree starts to believe that all hope is lost.  A bright light comes along restoring faith in dreams and encourages the spirit to persevere. The tree is small and limp but has the spirit to find love and acceptance. This story demonstrates that all of us have that spark within us to find what we long for. Persistence and fortitude can lead us out of despair to the light that shines for all of us. 

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My Review

The Lonely Christmas Tree is an adorable story about a tree that wants so badly to become a family’s Christmas tree. The poor little tree doesn’t realize that he’s not quite what the ‘ideal’ Christmas tree looks like. He watches all the other trees get chosen and taken to homes for the special holiday until he’s the only one left. 

I read this story to Middle A, who is 2 years old. She loved it so much we had to read it again immediately. It’s such a wonderful and touching story to share with your children. There are quite a few lessons that can be learned from this little tree. This will definitely be one to read every year at Christmas time! 

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Author Bio

Brent Marthaller lives in West Fargo, ND, and has written music and lyrics since 1978. During the 1980’s and 1990’s he was a member of several bands which performed throughout the area and at local venues. While those days of performing are in the past, he continues to write whenever he can. He also enjoys introducing his grandchildren to all varieties of music.

Purchase Links:

Tate Publishing:

http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-100-2

http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61346-168-6

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Christmas-Tree-Brent-Marthaller/dp/161739100X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1355776048&sr=8-3&keywords=The+Lonely+Christmas+Tree

Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lonely-christmas-tree-brent-a-marthaller/1101384282

Author’s Website - www.thelonelychristmastree.com

Exclusive Hardcover versions may be purchased for $11.99 directly from the author website!

DIY Headband Holder

You know that song “Little Girls” that Miss Hannigan sings in the musical ‘Annie’? Sometimes I find myself humming that song. Having 3 girls, our house is covered in little girl things. I step on a hair clippy at least 10 times a week. Moms of boys think Legos hurt?! I stepped on my share of legos when I was younger. Legos got nothin’ on those little claw-shaped hair clips. OUCH! Along with those hair clips, we have about 10 bajillion hair bows and headbands. The tiny drawer in the bathroom can’t hold them all. Headbands were breaking and bows were getting smashed. I know a hair bow board will solve the smashed hair bow problem. I’m going to take care of that soon. I needed to figure out how to get all those headbands in one place.

This is the answer:

An oatmeal canister is the perfect size to put headbands around!

I trimmed two pieces of scrapbook paper to fit around the can and hot glued them.

Then, I hot glued a ribbon down each side where the paper overlapped so no edges were showing.

Last, I glued a cardboard circle that is about an inch wider than the base of the canister to the bottom.

Middle A insists on wearing a headband every single day, so it’s great having them all right there where she can choose which one she wants. It’s also handy for teaching her to put them where they belong. She is doing a great job keeping up with her headbands since they’re all displayed on her dresser now. 

Here are Middle A’s headbands on her headband holder: