Beauty Queen

I had a bad mommy moment the other day. My daughter was playing outside with the other children, and she asked if she could go into one of their houses to play. I said yes, just for ten minutes, as it was almost bed time. Nine minutes later, I put on my shoes to go get her, only to find her crying in front of our house. The older girls had told her that since they were playing with makeup, she should go home. After calming her down, I began to think about this whole makeup thing. Makeup and preschoolers? … Continue reading →

Blowing Eggs and Other Easter Adventures

Yesterday saw my daughter and I at the kitchen counter, me with a small nail in hand, her with a bright red face. Yes, it’s Easter, and that means that we’re blowing Easter eggs. We’re not terribly good at it. However, if you have never blown eggs before, here’s how. Get white eggs. We have brown ones most of the time, and brown eggs do not dye well. Take a small nail and have an adult gently wiggle the nail at the pointier end of the egg until there is an end-of-nail sized hole. Flip the egg over and make … Continue reading →

Rainy Days

My daughter is a little afraid of mud these days. To a person who loves mud and jumps in puddles regularly, it is a strange thing to have a daughter who is afraid of mud. It’s not entirely unexpected, however. Doesn’t it often seem like children focus on whatever it is you enjoy, and that focus isn’t always positive? It does give a whole new flavor to rainy days, though. We like the rain and we don’t mind walking in it, but it’s that mud that has us stymied sometimes. We jump over it and around it, and sometimes I … Continue reading →

The Saga of the Training Pants

Just what we need around our houses. More potty talk. But I’m telling you, this subject is gripping. Fascinating. I’m talking about night time toilet training. The other day I mentioned that my daughter seems to have graduated to training pant-less nights. This would be a great boon to our budget and to our garbage if it were the case. However, since her night time pees tended to be quite epic, she is a little afraid to ditch the training pants completely. I can’t say that I blame her. So I came up with a plan. For those of you … Continue reading →

What is Your Preschooler Getting for Easter?

I’m going minimalist for Easter this year. Last year I got my daughter and a couple of friends lovely hand-painted wooden animals from Jalu Toys, a company that creates gorgeous original wooden critters. We held an egg hunt at my inlaws’ beach cabin. This year we’re going a little less crazy. I am not a big Easter gift person. I like to give my daughter one nature-inspired object. This year’s choice will likely be a plant for her garden. I might get her some summer bulbs or something that is already growing. Spring is an inspiring time for the gardener … Continue reading →

A True Artist

Is your preschooler an artist? Tonight my daughter sat at the dining room table painting. She was mixing colors. She said that she was trying to make gold. Since she was dumping all of the colors into a big container and stirring, I can only assume that she meant brown, which is exactly what she made. Pressing blobs of paint onto green paper, she looked proud and said, “An artist takes care in her work.” Then she presented her father with her paintings as a birthday present. I wish that I had such confidence. At the moment I am taking … Continue reading →

To Try

What was it that Yoda said? Oh yes. Do or do not. There is no try. Well, I disagree. My apologies to Yoda. He may have more wisdom of the ages than I do, but he didn’t watch today’s Paralympic sledge hockey game. We live in Vancouver, Canada, the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Way back in the fall, I’d purchased tickets to the gold medal round of sledge hockey, certain that Canada would be in it. Canada lost to Japan, and Japan ended up in the final with the United States. We decided to cheer for Japan. What … Continue reading →

The Princess Question

To princess or not to princess isn’t the question. It is whether to push princesses on little girls that is really the question for me. In January, my daughter went to a princess birthday party. Before that she was not particularly interested in princesses. Sure, she owned frilly dresses. She would occasionally declare that she was a princess, but I don’t know that she really understood what that entailed, aside from a dress. After the party, she became moderately interested in princesses. That meant that she wore the frilly dresses more often and declared more frequently that she was a … Continue reading →

What Are Your Easter Traditions?

In my family, Christmas and birthdays are important, but we were never big on Halloween, Valentine’s Day, or Easter celebrations. The secular part of Easter passed with a new dress sometimes and a few chocolate eggs. Now, I am rather fond of Easter. I love the beginning of spring, because it means that birds are singing, crocuses are blossoming, and gardeners are creeping outdoors to plant seeds. So I’ve made the change in the seasons and the renewal of life a little bit more of a focus than my parents did. Why do you and your preschooler do for Easter? … Continue reading →