Just wanted to share a few of the things that have been on my mommy-mind lately. With all of the changes in our lives from moving overseas, life has been a little crazy. One thing I've tried very hard to maintain in all the transitioning has been Norah's daily routine. This has helped, even though that routine has definitely ebbed and flowed sometimes more than I would have liked. Her bedtime and meal times have remained within a pretty consistent schedule. But now that she is 10 months old, and now that life is settling down a little bit, one thing that has been on my mind a lot is the need to establish more of a waketime routine for her. She is getting to a bit of a clingy stage, and I am realizing that she needs a bit more structure in her playtime and activities. I have used Babywise a lot with Norah, and once again it has been a big help with planning how to do this. This website has been a constant resource to me: babywisemom.com. It has lots of ideas about learning activities, and links to websites for learning activities that are appropriate even for Norah's age. One of the important elements I found there is that of playpen time, where daily Norah has a set period (right now that is only about 20 minutes) to play in her playpen alone. This builds independence, focus, and concentration. We are trying to build up to about half an hour to 45 minutes, which would be appropriate for her age.
We still don't totally know what our every day normal is here in Cape Town. Some days Norah and I are home all day, some days Andy is home for most of that, some days he is gone. Some days Norah and I spend with my sister and her baby either here or at their house. Once a week we have our Mom's group where Norah can play with other babies. Once a week or so we are starting to have Africa Jam kids over who love to play with Norah. So our activities are a bit different daily. I am trying to work in different outings, including walks to the beach or library, or outings to playgrounds, and other exciting kid-friendly places. Another thing I'm trying to do is push other responsibilities out of my mind and sit on the floor and just play with Norah. More and more I'm realizing how much time my family requires of me, and how little I can practically commit myself to other ministries and people. The more time I have to just enjoy them, without stress about other things I feel pressured to do, the better. I want to maintain vision for how fleeting and essential this season is.
Do any of you moms or childcare workers out there have any tips or ideas for me of fun, educational things to do with Norah? I'd love some feedback!
I'm off to play with her now, be back later! :)
3 comments:
Hey Leigh. I miss you guys! I've been totally shocked at how much Austin learns just by playing and singing, and not having "learning activities." I ask him questions about different toys ("what color is the truck?) and help him answer. I add learning into just about everything. The newest thing is singing the ABCs every time we wash our hands. All of the sudden, after a couple of weeks, Austin can sing the whole song by himself! Babies are learning machines, and just by watching and listening and normal interaction, they learn so much. I'm sure you're doing a fantastic job with Norah, so don't worry too much. :)
I think I told you this last night, but play animal games on all fours to encourage crawling :) But other than that, you know more than I do ;) Maybe we should try finger paint soon?! (the edible kind of course!!)
I agree with Sheena... songs are a huge part of kids learning. Jaron and I make up songs for EVERYTHING. It works. :)
Also, I would use his stuffed animals to help demonstrate something in a fun way. Like trying to get him to eat or brush his teeth, etc. I would just pretend that stuffed animal was a real person and go through all the motions. It made him laugh and helped him learn a task.
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