I am still awake.

Thank You, Maurice Sendak

When I found out that Maurice Sendak had died, my day turned the muted colors of his illustrations. I wrote a little piece about his affect on me on the Toddler Times blog today.  

Thank you for having the courage to be you, Mr. Sendak.

 

With Mother's Day Coming...

It's time for an update on some Babble Toddler Posts.

The past two weeks I wrote about:

How the Shnook says "like" a lot

My new favorite phone app

Some terrible news we received at our preschool

Some Mother's Day crafts for preschoolers, toddlers, and uncrafty individuals

Reason I will miss the toddler years despite all my complaining

Some info on Toddler's Fractures

7 Ways Parenting Is Different Today Than It Was Back In The Day

10 Birthday Gifts For $15 or Under

 

Hi There.

Maybe you got here from this post on Babble?

If so, I'd love it if you'd "Like" my page on facebook, become a fan, add me on Twitter (@naomiodesaytur) or my RSS feed. You don't have to do all of them, just pick one, or two, or pick all of them! Do whatever makes YOU feel comfortable, okay?

Thanks for reading!

N

 

The Chametz Of The Writer

I'll admit it. The older I get, the more my practice of Judaism wanes.

Does the fact that I've married a non-Jew play a part in that? Sure, it does. They warned us of this in Hebrew school.  See, Mom and Dad?  I was listening. Your thousands of dollars were not completely wasted. I also remember a little bit about the story and traditions of Passover.

Passover is when we remember the Jews' Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The story goes that there wasn't enough time to wait for the bread to rise during their escape, so they ate it without leavening (yeast). This is matzah. So now, we all have to eat constipating cardboard for 8 days of the year in their honor.

Chametz is the leavening in bread. Before Passover, we're "asked" (by G-d?) to clean rigorously to get rid of all evidence of chametz in our households. It's like like high-powered spring cleaning.

Why I Can't Wait Until Shnook's Next Swim Class

Swim class for Shnook is twice a week.

I'd love to say that it's fun and exciting for me, but it's not, really. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm SUPER excited that Shnook is learning to swim. He can float on his back pretty well now, and he's not afraid to put his face in the water. This is progress. Not to mention, his number recognition skills are improving daily.

The swim routine is pretty solid, but some days it feels like driving a tractor through mud...As if I know what that's like. Hey, maybe this year in Vermont, I'll actually get to drive one.

So we get there, change, pee and shower off. This can take a while with a kid who wants to do everything except those three tasks. Once we finally get organized. I deposit him with the swim teacher and go take my spot in the observation room.

Afterwards, it's another (extremely wet) struggle while all the moms and kids wait for their turn in the shower. We all stand there, fully clothed while we help our kids get cleaned and dechlorinated. Most of us wear some kind of flip-flop at least,  but, really the most appropriate attire would be a raincoat and boots. Getting fully naked doesn't seem right when you haven't been in the pool yourself. This is just me and Shnook, by the way. Thankfully, Fuzz stays home with the nanny for this event. I'm grateful, because there are other moms there who are chasing after their toddlers while showering and changing their older kids. It sucks.

So, the before/after are the tractor/mud part. But the observation room...