Chaz Moms and Moms-to-Be Chat (everyone welcome)

[ThatCrazyGroomer]

I am running on hormone overload, frustration and sleep deprivation. I am so tired of everyone and every thing it's all I can do to get out of the room anymore before I start crying and nobody in the ****ing house gets how stressed out I am. My migraine medicine raises my blood sugar, which I discovered too late to call my doctor and ask for something else and now I have to wait until Monday, nobody else in the house is willing to follow this stupid diet with me, and I'm too uncomfortable to sleep anymore. I want January to get here. Now. I'm so done. :'(

 

[milos_mommy]

I have a question about chores for young children. I saw this chart on pinterest, with comments such as "this is unrealistic but I wasn't surprised when it's a montessori link" and "my kids are way older and can't do all those things!" etc.

http://www.jacarandatreemontessori.nl/2014/06/06/age-appropriate-chores-for-children/

Do you think these things are unrealistic? Now...I'm reading this chart as a list of things children in each age group should be capable of doing or learning to do and handling some of the time...not that they should be doing all these things regularly.

I don't think any are unrealistic...now certain stuff, like cutting a banana, a 2 year old shouldn't need help but is obviously going to need close direction and a butter/child's knife....a 4 year old probably can't carry a full sized vacuum around and change the bag and stuff, but could certainly vacuum up a small mess or be responsible for vacuuming an area rug or something.

I don't know...Lillian's 15 months old and she can do all of those things except hang up a towel or open the curtains, and she does at least a few things in each category every day.

I was just kind of surprised, do most people do all of these things for their kids all the time?!?

 

[Fran27]

LOL WTF? A 18 month old peeling and cutting an apple? Laughing at the idea of a 18 month old making me coffee too. Sure, if you want coffee (and your cup) all over the floor.

 

[release the hounds]

Is anybody else put off by a child fetching nappy underwear? Maybe it's because I listened to a lot of rap in the 90's, but nappy underwear don't sound like anything I want my 18 month old going to fetch.

and he's going to have to eat cereal at someone else's house because there won't be any here for him to eat.

 

[Taqroy]

I dunno, I think the entire idea of chores before 3 or 4 is kind of ridiculous. And the idea of handing over any object filled with liquid to my 18 month old is laughable.

I encourage Falon to "help" with stuff but its more so because she's a lot more compliant when she thinks it's her idea.

 

[Greenmagick]

I would say it depends on how chore is defined. As a must do thing, no way. As a thing they are encouraged to help with, sure! Montessori also focuses a lot of setting things up so kids CAN handle them, so like a jug of milk would not be a glass half gallon jar like I use, but a smaller manageable for toddler hands container

 

[sparks19]

yeah I don't know. It depends on the child really.

Hannah just turned 7 (I know... I can't believe it either lol) and there are certain things she can do and can't do. She can't vacuum... she doesn't have the leverage or the upper body strength lol with my vacuum it's all I can do to push that sucker around lol.

She can and does make her bed... and mine actually LOL. I never taught her this because I think making beds is stupid and pointless so I don't do it. But she likes a nicely made bed lol so she'll make hers and then go in and make mine *shrug*

she unloads dishes but not the plates. She can't reach the cupboard without crawling up on the counter and that's well and good when she's just getting a snack but I really would rather her not try to crawl up on my counter with my breakable dishes haha. so she puts away Tupperware, silverware, anything she can reach.

She made pancakes the other day all by herself I just helped getting ingredients down and helping her decipher the recipe. she did all the measuring, mixing, pouring and cooking all on her own with a little vocal guidance from me when she wasn't sure what to do or how to do it. BUT she enjoys cooking and loves cooking shows. If she didn't show an interest in it... I wouldn't expect her to cook things lol.

so it really depends... and she's 7

 

[milos_mommy]

Well yeah it's ridiculous for an 18 month old to cut an apple...but I don't think it's out there for a 3 year old at all.

Lillian is 16 months and she's very capable of pouring liquids from a small container...I don't let her pour milk in her cereal simply because we don't eat milk and cereal...but she pours, say, a cup of water into a house plant, or a small bottle of juice into a cup.

She also fetches her nappy (and often powder as well) when I tell her it's time to get changed.

She also puts a cup into our water cooler to get filled (and if she could reach the buttons I'm sure she could. It also says that for coffee the kids should fetch the cup and press the button (not carry hot coffee) so having an 18 month get you a mug kept in a reachable location and pressing start on the coffee machine or even measuring and pouring water and coffee grounds into it doesn't seem ridiculous to me??

I agree, I don't think they're meant to be strict "chores" that the kid MUST do, just as suggestions for age appropriate ways for kids to help with stuff.

 

[Jules]

We had our 26-weeks appointment last week and had to go in for another ultrasound since the little guy did not want to fully cooperate last time. The nurse was really nice and threw in a few 3D pics. I might be one of those crazy pregnant people who see things in ultrasounds that nobody else sees, but this is too cute (face and two little fists left and right). There's really a human in there!!

 

[Dizzy]

Jules it's perfectly clear and very cute

We had ours today!! It's so cute!

 

[~Jessie~]

Both of your babies are SO cute! I love 3D ultrasounds. Nora looked SO similar to her 3D ultrasound when she was born. It's pretty amazing.

 

[~Jessie~]

I haven't been very active on here lately. To be honest, I have a hard time posting because my SIL is a stalker and I'm sure she follows everything I post on here. We don't have communication with her (although she sure tries to!) but I guess I should post anyway and not care if she sees what I write.

Anyway! Here is my adorable little fox before a 6.5 mile hike last weekend. She turns 3 months old tomorrow.

foxy by Chihuahuaesque, on Flickr

She's such a cutie. The dogs love her.

_DSC8903.jpg by Chihuahuaesque, on Flickr

_DSC8846.jpg by Chihuahuaesque, on Flickr

 

[Fran27]

So cute!!!

 

[Dizzy]

aww she's cute, I love the fox look!

The scan was amazing, I can't believe how clear they are. We showed the DVD to my partners mum, she was amazed I keep looking at the photos... Can't wait to see how similar baby looks to the pics little chunk is already weighing about 3.5lbs opcorn:

 

[~Jessie~]

Thanks! I'm loving this age- SO much easier than the newborn stage! She's interactive and silly and much different than she was 3 months (or even 1 month!) ago. We get between 7-10 hours of interrupted sleep each night on average. Can't complain about that!

We think we want to go to Alaska with her next June- she'll be 11 months then. We're going hiking at Denali and are going to wear her, and I'm hoping she'll still love being worn at that point! We want to do some long hikes and are going to work up to it with her being worn this fall/winter.

Here's her 3D ultrasound picture and then her at 2 days and 9 days. She looks just like it.

NORA_60 by Chihuahuaesque, on Flickr

2 days

Nora at 2 days! by Chihuahuaesque, on Flickr

9 days

image by Chihuahuaesque, on Flickr

 

[milos_mommy]

The Big Question:

I want to get Lillian a play kitchen for Christmas. Originally I was thinking I'd make one out of an old entertainment shelving unit, but LOL at thinking I had time for that.

They have GORGEOUS wooden sets that cost +$100, or plastic ones that run much cheaper. I'm not entirely sure how the plastic ones hold up...the used wood ones I've seen seem to accrue a lot of damage. I'm wondering if it'd better to buy the cheaper one thinking a) she's a child and is going to bang it up anyway and b) it's a kid's toy she'll only play with for a few years, or go with the more expensive, higher quality one that may(?) last longer, look nicer, etc.


Jessie - Nora looks like a little doll! Alaska sounds great - book your flight overnight so she'll most likely sleep during it. And even if she doesn't still enjoy being worn at that time (Lillian didn't), you can still do shorter, more family friendly hikes and things.

 

[Fran27]

We got a plastic kitchen from craigslist... I paid half price for it. I would not get the cheap 'American Plastic' ones because they'll just fall apart. Mine was a Step 2. I like the wood ones much better and I think kids like them better too, but when I see what my kids have done with it... I'm glad I went for easy to clean plastic!

So it's really a question of taste... Make sure you follow Baby Cheapskate on FB or Twitter, they will tell you when they are on sale.

 

[*blackrose]

Growing up we had the name brand plastic kitchen set. Can't remember what brand, though. It survived myself, two toddlers, and then another little one and I think it was eventually donated. We loved it. So, if it's a sturdy well made plastic set...nothing wrong with that!

 

[ThatCrazyGroomer]

I spent about 90 hours total making Winnie a kitchen for her birthday one year, out of an old desk. It was beautiful... Then JPPSO destroyed it when they moved us. I cried, and never made another one.
Now she has a Step 2 kitchen that she got last year for her birthday from my parents. It's held up well, especially considering the cold who plays with it destroys everything else.

 

[Dizzy]

7 weeks to go!!!! How?!!! Just starting to get a few niggles. Pinches and pains. But generally still OK

Was supposed to finish work today but still got stuff to sort out so aiming for next week. THEN 14 MONTHS OFF!!!!!!!!! And possibly a career break

Hasn't sink in.... It's going to come out a puppy right?!