Our city has an award-winning parks and recreation department. Prior to having children I took an art class (with a teacher who didn't appreciate my lack of artistic ability experience), and a dog-training class. I was in way over my head with that one. I had two, large, kind of dumb/but sweet dogs at that point. They didn't make me look good. I'll just leave it at that.
Anyway, last summer we started to take advantage of the classes offered for the youngsters. Michaela tried art, dance, and ice skating then. She wasn't crazy about the art teacher, but she really enjoyed the dance and ice skating classes. This summer we tried to get into a cooking class, but it booked up fast; and we successfully signed up for a ballet class.
I told Michaela that she could take the same dance class with the same teacher as last year, or we could try a new teacher with a slightly different syllabus. Last year's teacher was very experienced and she had those little ones all ready for a little recital by the last week. But I figured she'd be doing the very same class again this year. Instead we decided on a class that incorporates pretend play and ballet moves. Michaela loves it! Last week the ballet dancers reenacted "Cinderella". So cute! I posted the above photo to Instagram and gave it the hashtag "ballet class" and we actually got a like and a comment from Andreas Kaas who is a soloist with the Royal Danish Ballet!
As fall approaches, I am trying to figure out which extracurricular activities to choose, but I do not want to over-schedule Michaela (or me!). She is already committed to attending the children's program at our church on Wednesday nights. She did this last year and had a great time, and I like the hour or so of free time it gives me.
We are considering another round of ice skating, soccer (with a new friend), or more ballet. So many fun things to do, but so little time.
How many extracurricular activities does your little one participate in?
Long ago, before I had children, I was one of those people who thought cosleeping was for hippies. Seriously! I could not understand why anyone would share their bed with their baby or their little children. It seemed weird and inconvenient to me.
Then I had a child.
A wonderful child whose love language seems to be touch.
But it took me a while to realize that cosleeping would be the best thing for her - for us.
When Michaela was a newborn, she slept next to my side of the bed in her bassinet. Aside from waking in the night for a feeding, she was a good sleeper.
Then I had to go back to work.
I think I started transitioning her to her crib at least couple of weeks before school started that year, but she did not like the change at all. She awakened in the night more than once, and resisted going back to sleep. It was really hard having my sleep interrupted like that, and especially when the alarm clock was going to go off at 5 AM. The first two months of the school year were brutal in that regard.
If it weren't for a trip to Las Vegas that November, I don't know that I would have figured it out as soon as I did. Although I had brought the portable crib, that first night in the hotel room I had an idea that changed everything. The bed was close to a short wall, and I decided to fill the gap between the bed and that wall with the extra pillows - that way she wouldn't fall off the bed. Then I put her in the bed with the pillow barrier on one side, and I was on the other. Lights out, and voila! She slept the entire night. She didn't even wake up for a feeding. It was amazing!
So that was the beginning of our cosleeping.
Almost four years later, we still cosleep most of the time. During last summer and this summer, I expected her to sleep in her own bed most nights because we have a lot of time together every day. But when I go back to work in a few weeks, she will sleep in my bed again most likely. A Facebook friend who also cosleeps with her school-aged daughter, said that it seems like it fills her daughter's bucket (so to speak) of that close time with mom. I have to agree with that.
It's a sacrifice to share your bed with your baby or young child, for sure. If I were married still, I'm not sure it would have been an ongoing sacrifice we would have been willing to make. But being that it's just Michaela and Mommy, there really is no downside to letting her sleep in my bed. I'm sure there will come a day in the not-too-distant future when she would rather be in her own bed. Until then, this is what works.
Do you, or did you, cosleep with your child(ren)? If so, was it the result of a change of heart (like me), or had you always intended to cosleep?
I recently received a comment from Brittany on an older post of mine in which I mentioned that there were some books that helped Michaela get excited about using the toilet when I was potty training her. I had only mentioned the books in passing and never said what they actually were, but Brittany asked me to share them with her. Seems like I might as well share them here so that other readers can find them for their kiddos.
First, I will say that potty training is not for the faint of heart. There will be accidents and messes. My sofa took a beating, friends. Thank goodness it is old and I can look forward to replacing it in the near future. At times I was really frustrated. I read blog posts and watched Youtube videos by moms who had successful methods, and I gleaned bits of wisdom from them. It seems that at least one of them mentioned using children's books, and that was an idea I really liked.
Here are a couple that Michaela really enjoyed:
This one was probably her favorite - mine, too! I realize that it's written for girls, and so it won't work for everyone.
This one is more boyish, but we enjoyed it a lot:
Reading these books really got Michaela excited about using the potty just like the kids in the stories. I think it was the most motivating factor I introduced during that time. For a list of more books like this, you can click here.
These days we're working on table manners, and I'm frustrated. Maybe there are books for that?!
(This post does not include affiliate links.)
