How To Entertain My Toddler

I am always looking for new things to help me entertain my toddler. Here are few of the activities that we have really enjoyed this summer.
Cardboard Playhouse/Puppet theater. I ordered a double stroller when McKay was born and it came in this wonderfully big box. I cut a window in one side and strung curtains to make it a puppet theater, and then cut a door in the other so that Jadyn could also use it as a play house. She LOVES sitting in her own little space and coloring, or playing with her stuffed animals.

 


Pipe cleaners and Strainer activity:

This was soooo fun for her to do! I got the idea from this website.


Homemade Playdough: 
I have always hated the smell of Play Dough, but my daughter fell in love with the stuff at our local library's toddler time. she enjoyed it so much that I decided to try and make a batch of it at home to see if it would smell better than the commercial stuff. Sweet success! Not only does this play dough not stink, but it was a really fun activity to do with my daughter and I don't worry about her squishing the colors together or leaving it out since I know that I can just make more! Here is the recipe:

1 c white flour, 1 c water, 1/4 c salt, 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. cream of tarter, Food coloring, Wax paper

Mix the food coloring with the water in a pot and then add all of the other ingredients. Cook over medium heat stirring continuously. When the mixture begins to really "dough up" on the spoon dump it onto a sheet of wax paper to cool. After it has cooled you can store it in a ziplock bag or plastic container. This stuff will dry out fairly quickly, so remember to put it away as soon as your toddler tires of it! We made purple the first week, and then one new color every time we needed to spice up the activity a little.


What activities do YOU do with your toddler?

Mmmmm...Panda.

Joe and I absolutely LOVE Chinese food. Well, at least we love the American version of it! We have spent many a date night at a Chinese buffet enjoying their cream cheese wantons, California rolls, and coconut shrimp; or hitting up Panda express for some of their delectable orange chicken. Living in Alpine we have been a little disappointed in the quality (and price!) of our town's Chinese food. Sadly it just isn't as good as the Mega buffets we experienced in Ohio or our favorite "Fortune Chinese" establishment in Provo, Utah. And don't even try to find orange chicken here, our little town has yet to see the light. In fact, when mentioning our love of Chinese buffets to our group of Texas friends we were met with responses like "Oh! I love Chinese buffets, they have great pizza!" or "I only eat their chicken nuggets." So sad.

We used to go to our Provo Chinese buffet whenever we really wanted some time to just sit and discuss our future plans. Joe took me there when we were first dating and we fell in love with the place. I took him there after we found out we were pregnant with our first child and we sat in one of the booths and made lovey-dovey plans for eons.

Well this lack of appropriate Asian cuisine in Alpine has prompted Joe and I to try to re-create some of our favorite dishes at home. We (and by "we" I really mean "I") are learning to love cooking new things and trying out new recipes. So far we have attempted to make orange chicken, coconut shrimp, California rolls, salmon rolls, cream cheese wantons, pot stickers, chow mien. chicken teryaki, and broccoli beef. Someday soon we want to make Peking pork. yum! Hopefully our time here in Texas will result in our mastering the art of cooking Americanized Chinese food. (And hopefully we will fine a way to reduce the salt, fat, and carbs in all of these recipes!!)

Homophone...do you know what this means??

Homophone:
Noun: Each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, e.g., new and knew. 


This last week I had the flu. I kept bemoaning that people shouldn't possibly be a be able to contract the flu in August, when it is warm and sunny out and no one you know has it. I realized today that it is September. And that it has been September for a long time now. Way to go Kym for not even knowing what month it was. 


Anyhow, During my long miserable confinement, Jadyn would often come check on me and give me all of the sympathy that her little heart could muster. Here are some gems that she shared with me:


Kym: "Jadyn, Mama is sick."
Jadyn: "Ohhh...poor Mama! No more Mamas jumpin on the bed!"


Jadyn: "Mama sick? Mama sick? I hold you Mama."


Jadyn: "Ohhh...poor kitty, kitty is sick! Kitty needs a snack! (fruit snack)."


Jadyn: (Patting my face) "Ohhh...poor Mama. Mama is sick. I kiss it better." (Proceeds to kiss my stomach, elbow, and knee).


Jadyn: (Day 5) "Where's Jadyn's sick? Is Jadyn sick?"
Kym: "No...Jadyn is not sick."
Jadyn: "Is McKay sick?"
Kym: "No...McKay is not sick. Just Mama is sick."
Jadyn: "Ohhh...poor Mama. I love you Mama."


Kym: "Mama has the flu."
Jadyn: "Mama flew! Mama flew!! good job Mama!!"


Flu: A shortened term for inlfuenza.
Flew: The past tense verb of "To fly"
Flue: A pipe, tube, or channel for conveying hot air, gas, steam, or smoke, as from a furnace or fireplace to a chimney.
Floo: A type of powder used for traveling via fireplace in the magical world of Harry Potter.


These are homophones. I wish I really could fly. Or at least travel by Floo powder. Or even by chimney as in Mary Poppins. But unfortunately, all I had was the regular old inFLUenza...

Timing

I have though a lot about how I measure time. I remember as a kid I used to measure the passing of time by how many months were left until my birthday, and then until Christmas. Since my birthday is in July the two holidays served to split up my year pretty well. I remember being about 4 years old and contemplating the great many years that were left until I would turn 18 and go off to college. I thought that day would never arrive, it was just too far away to be possible. In high school my schedule was so full that I expanded my measuring of time to include how many days there were until my next dance performance, or how many hours I had left before I had to be at work. In college my measuring stick expanded again to include marking how many weeks were left until mid-terms, and then until finals. And then I had a baby and I suddenly stopped marking time with my own activities but with those of my child. "Jade is six weeks already! another six weeks and maybe she will be rolling over!" or "McKay is already half a year!! In another few months he will be cruising/walking and will graduate to become a toddler." Time passes swiftly. It may seem slow in the moment but maybe that is so that we will have the chance to appreciate what is happening. We get that one chance and then it too zooms away to help make up our past experiences.

I read a wonderful talk by Dallin H. Oaks about timing. You can read it here. 
He said two things that really resonated with me. 


First: "In all the important decisions in our lives, what is most important is to do the right thing. Second, and only slightly behind the first, is to do the right thing at the right time." 


And second: "We prepare in the way the Lord has directed. We hold ourselves in readiness to act on the Lord’s timing. He will tell us when the time is right to take the next step. For now, we simply concentrate on our own assignments and on what we have been asked to do today. In this we are also mindful of the Lord’s assurance: “I will hasten my work in its time” (D&C 88:73).


I'm sure that many of us get caught up in waiting for the next stage of our lives to begin. I really like the reminder from Elder Oaks to concentrate on the assignments that we have been given right now. Right now I a am a mother of two very young children who require the majority of my time and my patience. It is so easy for me to wish them to be a little more self sufficient at times, but in doing so I know that I am wishing away the moments that are unique to the sage we are at right now. I realized the other day that Jadyn is hovering right on that edge between being a toddler and being a kid. A toddler is universally cute, they get to travel with mom most everywhere and are ood and awwd over much the same way a baby is. Once they enter the kid stage it seems like they loose a little of that unexplainable quality that belongs to those in babyland. I know I will miss her being a toddler, so I have determined to enjoy it while it lasts. 


I have really found a sense of purpose in seeking our what is to be my work right now, and concentrating on fulfilling those duties.


I hope that time will never pass too quickly!