Dream a Little Dream

I posted this a few weeks back. It has been working so well, I thought I would re-post for those who have recently started following....

As a mom I hear and read all kinds of tips and tricks to get your kids to do or not do things. 99% of the time these tips and tricks don't work. I just think every kid is different and what works for one isn't going to work for another. However, the 1% of the time the tip/trick pays off is worth the effort:) So, with that being said, I have found a fun way to get my 3 year old to look forward to bedtime.  Wrigley used to be a piece of cake to get to bed, but lately he has been giving us a lot of resistance. There is crying, pleas to stay up and play, endless excuses.  Until one night....

 As I was putting Wrigley to bed, he said he wanted to see snow. With us living in Central Florida the chance of him seeing snow anytime soon is pretty much not going to happen (even with our recent cold fronts). So, I told him he could dream about the snow. We then spent a few minutes talking about what he would do in the snow, who would be with him, what the snow will feel like, etc. When he woke the next morning, I asked him about his dream and he described what we had talked about the night before. Every night since, as we walk to his bedroom, he asks me what he will dream about tonight. It is so precious listening to his little voice describe his imaginative scenarios and seeing the anticipation in his eyes for the dream yet to come. The best part of all is that there are little to no tears when I announce bedtime!

So, give it a try if you have a toddler resisting bedtime. If anything, it will be a few special moments spent with your child......

Shea

P.S. Tonight he was dreaming about being in a boat with Mickey Mouse, Jesus, and Mimi and Papa!

This post is linked to Try and Tell Tuesday over at Mom Tried It. Head on over to get some great tips, tricks, advice, etc....

Try and Tell-Fun Learning Games for all ages

I am so happy that one of my favorite blogs, Mom tried it (and where I get a lot of my "tips" and activities) is starting a blog carnival where we can share those tried and true things that have worked for us either with the kids or in the kitchen, or just about life in general!

Here are a few parenting "tricks" that I have found to work well:

I have a 5 (soon to be 6) year old and a 3 year old. One loves to learn and the other says "I don wanna learn" whenever I even mention a number or letter. With their age differences and their differing opinions on learning, finding activities to do together can be tough. Often times I find that Jackson (the oldest) and I end up playing a game while Wrigley (the youngest) plays by himself. Sad, I know! So, the other day I came up with 2 great activities that involved all of us and tapped into some learning for both kids!

1. I drew a vertical line down the middle of their chalk board and drew different shapes on one side and sight words on the other. I told them that we would play a game and gave each one a piece of chalk. When I called out a shape, Wrigley had to find and circle it and when I called out a sight word, Jackson had to circle. It was a lot of fun and both kids were racing to circle the most things.
2. Since letters and numbers were making Wrigley disgruntled about learning, I decided this week to focus on our 5 senses instead. I grabbed some great activities from No Time for Flashcards and he enjoyed them. So, while we were gathered around the chalkboard, I decided to combine spelling and senses. I drew a face and a hand (Jackson had to remind me about the hand. I would of totally forgotten touch!) and then would say and write a sentence about senses (ex: She saw a bird). I would leave out at least two words (ex. ___ saw a ____). I would have Wrigley come up and circle what she would "see" the bird with and Jackson had to spell the missing words. So much fun!

I can't wait to read other posts at Mom Tried It from others and gain some tricks, tips, recipes, activities, etc. for my arsenal:)