I am a stay-at-home Mom of two little amazing kids. I have a very active three-year-old little boy and a beautiful one-year-old daughter. I am often still trying to figure things out with two little ones. I am married to a Marine, I cook, clean, craft, and everything in between. Not to mention try to manage my Bipolar Disorder. This Blog is just about everything. I hope you can take a few things from me and I can learn from you!
I have been making a lot of changes to my blog. No personal blog layout yet but that is a small goal... but one thing I have written for the blog which can be found right now at the bottom of the blog and hopefully in the future "about me" section of a new blog layout what the whole concept of "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life". This is my goal or concept for "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life".
The Face Behind The Concept and Dream of "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life" : Property of A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
This is my message...
I thought I would write this message to my readers and hopefully future readers. What "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life" is really about. It is more than a blog but a goal and ambition to hopefully to change the world. I must first share a little information about me.
I am a bad example of a Domestic Goddess. I have a very active three-year-old little boy and a beautiful one-year-old daughter. I have been married for 10 years to a wonderful Marine! I have a B.S. in Psychology and currently applying for my Master's program. I craft, cook, clean, finding something new to try, and everything in between. I tend to function on auto pilot and live in pj pants. I am on the nerdy, geeky, and a little introverted. I am a huge bookworm, music lover, love games, and love to sing and dance badly. I march to my own beat and color outside of lines as often as I can. However, something else about me is I live with two health issues. The first is PCOS and Bipolar Disorder. I prefer the term live with instead of suffer because this is something that I live with daily.
One of my huge goals in my life is to fight the stigma of mental illnesses and bring much needed education and understanding to these invisible illnesses as well others. I also want to show parents and anyone else who "live" mental illness that they are not alone!!! That they too can live, thrive, survive, and show the world that we are no different than any other person who does not live with a mental illness. We often approach life situations differently and deal with issues of the mental illnesses a little different than a physical health issue.
I started this blog and the idea of "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life" to be part of the goal of stopping the stigma and educating about mental illnesses. An I believe in one way to stop this stigma and show people they are not alone in their mental illness and we are not the illness.
So this blog is just not all about being bipolar or other health problems. It is about my journey on how I manage this world. So you will see life events, good days, bad days, crafts, cooking, information, and anything else I can think of.
I am still very new to the blogging world and also not the best writer and still have a lot to learn. I am also at the very early stages of this goal. However, this goes beyond just a blog. You can find me "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life" on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and even Goodreads and hopefully other social media platform even a website to follow this journey. On these social platforms you will find positive, up lifting quotes, education facts, jokes, what I am doing for my therapy, if I am having an off day, also when I am at doctor for my monthly visit, and so on. You also can talk to me and share! I love to communicate!
I am hoping to further my education and research to help aid this goal. As I stated earlier I am currently applying for my Master's program and maybe one day even a doctoral program. I love science in general, research, social aspects of psychology, therapy techniques, neurology, and so much more. If my goal and dream of "A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily" takes off I would also not to love to just not personal experiences but credentials an qualifications as well. Not sure where my education will take me but I sure hope this dream is part of it.
I am hoping to make a huge difference in this world so I hope you will follow me as this dream and goal grows.
~A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life~
Courtney
Caleb Hunter Vaughn Dec 21, 2011 Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
On December 21, 2011 my life changed forever! I gave birth to an amazing little boy who was in the making for almost 6 years. My husband and I fought long and hard battle of infertility for almost 6 years when I became pregnant via an IUI with injections. I was high risk with Caleb due to the way Caleb was conceived and developing gestational diabetes (thank you PCOS) but there were complications in my last trimester. Caleb was not due until January 13 but decided he was going to break my water late on December 20th and because he remained breech the entire time I delivered him via c-section. Caleb was 8 lbs 10 oz and 19 inches and even though though he was an average size baby he was an early average size baby that needed help breathing. It would be almost 48 hours before I could hold my son for the first time and it had to be one of the hardest times of my lives with my husband being deployed and having Caleb in the NICU. However, his NICU stay would not be forever and Christopher would be home from deployment.
Caleb in the NICU Dec 2011: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Holding my son for the first time Dec 2011 : Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
He is such a mini me of his father! His mannerism, sense of humor, and temper all remind me so much Christopher. He loves to be by his father's side and helping where ever he can! He watches, observes, figures things out, and often goes by itself. He is stubborn, hardheaded, imaginative, and thinks he is right just like his father. I feel like I am raising my husband sometimes. I wonder what it will be like when he gets older... only time will tell on that one.
Caleb meeting his daddy for the first time: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
So much faith...LOL: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
24 Books of Christmas and Corona : Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Turning 3...
It is very hard to picture Caleb as this tiny baby even though it was only three years ago. He is such an adventurous and strong willed child. From sun up to sun down he is a ball of pure energy that has me catching my breath most days. I have learned the whole new world of boys and it is filled with cars, super heroes, rough housing, and getting into things more than once after he was told no. Even with this rough tough boy he still loves to come up an sit on my lap and snuggle a little. He loves to give me kisses and hugs! He also still loves his special kiss on his forehead!!! We have discovered as fearless as he is though bugs stops him right in his path... taking after his Uncle Joshua in that matter. Hopefully this is just a phase or it will just narrow down to just spiders like his Uncle.
Bonding with his sister has been a truly unique and amazing experience to see. They truly do love each other, playing, and getting into trouble. He is so protective of her when they are outside or in unknown surroundings it is very heartwarming. I hope this continues to grows because to have a brother or sister so close in age is something special! Please do not get me wrong there are days they fight like cats and dogs but to know most days they love to be in each other company makes me feel like I have done something right in this thing called parenting.
Caleb and Caydance: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb and Caydance: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb and Caydance: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb has faced a couple of challenges in his short life already but I have discovered very early on he very much a fighter! I also discovered that it is very much on his time as well vs anyone else time schedule. He fought in the NICU and overcame that be overall healthy and loving little boy. He also is fighting and conquering his speech delay! It has been the most amazing, honoring, and humbling experience to trying to figure out what he wants or is trying to say to signing and saying more. Now he says more and more words, small phrases, and keeps on expanding! We still have a long way to go but knowing he is so smart and seeing his eyes light up when he learns a new word! I cannot wait to see what the next chapter holds!
Caleb turning 3 also holds great new adventures for him! With him turning the big 3 he transitioned out of his in home speech therapy to in school setting. So in the middle of November we started testing and to see what "services" Caleb qualified for and starting January my little man will be starting preschool with speech therapy! He will also be riding the bus! I am sure this will be filled of unknown times but as one mom told me he is on the right track built just for him.
My son is no longer a baby but turning into a little boy who I could not be more proud of!
LOVES: Cars, Transformers, Salad, Tacos, Helping Mom Cooks
DISLIKES: Bugs and Going to bed on time
COMPLETED: In Home Speech Therapy and pointing out body parts
WORKING ON: Speech and Potty Training
Caleb 2014 : Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb 2014 : Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb 2014 : Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb 2014 : Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
I love this little guy more than anything ~A Bipolar Mom~
Image found on Google Free Images Please Contact for credit or removal
I am a little behind on my post but I am still getting use to trying to maintain a regular blog my Bipolar world and daily life. It is a lot harder than I thought. So huge props to the ones that have really successful blogs I know they put a lot of work in it!
My House On Halloween! Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
So Halloween has come and gone in this household but it was sure an event in this house! We usually go all out in this household but because Christopher was and is still recovering from knee surgery there was a limited stuff that we could do for Halloween like going to a corn maze, festivals, pumpkin picking and so on. So it required me to do a lot of thinking of what can we do here!
As I stated in my last post we did tons of family movies nights and not mention pumpkin carving and painting. You can read about that here Weekend Wrap Up ....
Pumpkin Carving : Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Something that we allowed this year was let Caleb pick out his Halloween costume. So we all went to a Halloween store and he walked up and down the isles taking in everything it was a little bit overwhelming but he decided to be one of the cutest pirates ever. I also decided that whatever Caleb decided to be for Halloween I would make Caydance's costume to match it or pair it off it! So I decided she would be Tinkerbell and I would make it! So I set off making a Tutu Dress. I have only made a tutu skirt before but it was fun overall and I would do it again. I am not sure when we let Caydance pick out her first costume probably when she ask because I am having fun making them.
Caleb in his pirate costume 2014: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Start of Caydance's costume: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caydance's Tinkerbelle Costume: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
The day of Halloween I was not feeling the best but I made sure to put on my best face because I would have to take the kids around the neighborhood. We got the kids ready and let them play outside as we finished up the outside and pull out the wagon for me. I do not think we could have asked for better weather!!! It was perfect not hot or cold the best Halloween weather ever:)
Well I loaded up the kids in the wagon and we headed off to explore the neighborhood! We live in military housing so we live in a huge housing community. Actually two housing communties are back to back. I have to admit I was a little nervous being by myself and how my little ones would react for a couple of reasons.
Playing in the wagon Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
More wagon fun: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Taking turn with the wagon: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
1. This was the first time I was out on my own. Last year my Daddy help take the kids around while my Mom and Hubs manned the house because hubs was also recovering from a procedure. The previous year was Caleb's first Halloween so we only went to like three houses for pictures ops then manned the house the rest of night.
2. I am not sure what is about the Military but we really get into our holidays and Halloween is no exception! I think it is because a lot of military service members often miss out holidays, special events, birthdays, milestones, and annevessarys that we tend to go all out for them. We are no different and love to decorate and just love to have a great time and have fun!!! However, just like many parents I am not sure even though you try to teach them the people walking around the decorations around are not real even if they seem scary.
One of the most decorated houses in the neighborhood: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
3. Finally this reason is not so much a reason of being as nervous but rather to see the progress my son has made. Caleb has a speech delay and when he is in a new situation he often will not speak until he is comfortable. Even though he gets really comfortable really fast and he will start talking in his language or say words I was unsure how trick or treating would go. We did practice tons at the house :)
Caleb: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
When we first started I think they were just enjoying the wagon ride more than anything. The first couple of houses. I had to walk Caleb to the first couple houses and take him to hold his pail out. No matter how much we practice he would not say "Trick or Treat". He did say Hi, Bye, and signed please. I had to explain to a couple of people when he did the sign for please and others stood it right off the bat. I assume they either know some who is deaf, baby signs, or speech therapy. It is always nice when you do not have explain what your child is not doing when he is communicating :) . Caleb was also very good listening to directions very well by not reaching into the candy buckets and waiting his turn. He also grabbed two pieces of candy one at a time for his sister and him when there was just a bucket left out. He also was not afraid. I am not sure if it was the conquest of candy or he realized it most of it seemed fake and fun there was "nothing" that could really get him. I mean I was shocked of some of the stuff he walked up too. NOTE: Most people here take off their mask to let them know it is just a person underneath but this year no need too. The only thing that freaked him out was this large type talking doll but in all fairness that thing freaked me out too! He also did an awesome job not eating the candy! I was seeing kids left and right just stuffing candy in their mouths and not that I do not let my kids have a piece from their haul (just like I did when I was little) I want to check it properly (I am not saying that parents do not check it there I just prefer to wait to I get home) when I get it home he also held onto his sisters bucket and only handed it to her next house.
I am not sure Caydance really thought about it all except loving her costume. As soon as the costume came on she knew she was a little fair/princess and the twirls and dancing begun. She also was trying to find her feet under all that tulle. She is always an amusing site for sure. I do not think this year she was really into trick or treating. She is still a little on the young side to understand she is almost 15 months but most people thought she was just about to turn 1 and this is her second Halloween. I cannot believe she was just over 3 months last year <3 . Caydance basically wanted to keep getting in and out of wagon and just walk! She got very tired of the whole trick or treating real fast! However, I noticed that among that a lot of young ones passed out in strollers or being carried by their parents. I always enjoy the sites of Halloween. So I ended up taking Caydance back to hang out with Daddy which she had a lot more fun running around the yard and checking out the costumes.
Caydance's shoe would not stay on this is are flower bed: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caydance and the wagon: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Caleb and I parked the wagon and set out for a little more trick or treating! With having two kids it is often hard to spend quality time with just one of them. I enjoyed every minute of it walking with my little man holding my hand. He was even talking to me and holding a small conversation. It was sure a memory that I will always have with him. We actually called Grandma that night :-) he was actually telling her about that night of what we could get out of the conversation. He kept telling her Mommy and me! Then patting me... it was like he was proud of just me and him.
Well the night ended with a light meal, showers, and each picking a treat from the bucket.
Even though the next day was the first day of November it was still Halloween weekend. So we spent most of the day outside enjoying the weather. However, I decided to a Halloween fun meal for my little ones. Which included bloody spiders, purple green beans, banana ghost, and bread bones (sorry no pictures of the bread bones they came out a little...umm naughty like).
Halloween themed dinner : Bloody spiders, mac and cheese, purple spiders, and banana ghost: Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Between baths and picking up the living room the kids decided they would find new uses for Halloween buckets besides putting candy in them....
I am proud to be their mom:Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Only my two! They were putting them on and then head butting each other :) :Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
Proud to be their mother! : Property A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life
So that was our Halloween Weekend.... hope you guys had a great one!
Our weekend was full of pumpkin carving, pumpkin painting, and a fun movie themed snack!
One of my personal favorite holidays is Halloween with the pumpkin patches, movies, decorating, and all sorts of fun activities However, this year with hubs recovering from knee surgery there is not a lot he can do in terms of walking and the more stressful events on the body. We stress family time as a whole so this would include him and with our kids being so young and him being here I would feel horrible going to a pumpkin patch or a fall festival without him. As a military family there are often times we have to do so many things without because he is gone to include huge milestones so when he is here even if he recovering from knee surgery it is family time and we will find a way to enjoy it!
So I went to the grocery store and bought a very nice pumpkin and two little ones so we could still carve and paint the pumpkins. Christopher loves to carve pumpkins and for him to pick out a design for a jack-o-lantern is very much like a woman picking out a pair shoes for an outfit! However, once the design was decided upon it was time to get messy!!!
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Daddy Cutting The Top Off Of The Pumpkin
Have you ever noticed with little ones? When you encourage your little ones to get messy they are slightly hesitant but if they find the mess themselves they are all for it?
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Caleb not sure about the seeds
They were not sure of the pumpkin guts but they most mess with it! Which made this mommy very happy!
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Caydance was the first to go all in!
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Well if Caydance can do it I can do it!
When it came time for the cutting of the jack-o-lantern mommy brought out their little pumpkins to paint! Which I must admit was a hoot ! Caleb had a blast painting his pumpkin while Caydance enjoyed painting herself!
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Picture of the Painting Pumpkins aka Messy Messy!
After they had showers we snuggled down for a movie... for the life of me I cannot remember the title. I decided instead of popcorn which is the often go to snack in this household for movie night that I would do a Halloween themed treat! Now I know this is not super healthy and only a sometimes treat but we had PUMPKIN POOP and WITCHES NAILS!!! or in others word bugles and cheese balls! The pumpkin poop was the kids favorite! I tried to show Caleb how to wear the bugles on his fingers but he was not having it.
~I found the Pumpkin Poop and Witches Nail Idea on Pinterest~
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Pumpkin Poop and Witches Nails can be found on Pinterest
After it got dark out side! We turned on the Halloween lights and broke open a glow stick to see are Jack-O-Lantern glow!!!! Caleb had the honor of putting the glow stick in the pumpkin and he thought that was the neatest thing ever!
Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life: Not our best work for Halloween decorating with one man down. I hate that half of my tree is out. Christopher promised to figure out what happen to it.
So that is what happen in the household of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life House Hold!
Have a great Halloween! Stay Safe!!! See You next Week!!!
So the moment you realize that there may something wrong with your child... your heart drops. Well I know that is how I felt when my sons doctor told me that we needed to get Caleb's hearing checked and go through a speech assessment. A What? Why do you think my son needs to go through a speech assessment he likes to do things on his own time!!! AS MOMMY PROTECTION CLAWS COME FLYING OUT!!!The doctor explained that he is not saying as many words as he should and it is recommended that he does the assessment. Speech development varies among each child and people will tell you varying things but most experts will agree that a child by the age of 2 should have a vocabulary around 50 words. My son on the other hand maybe had 10 clear words but had his own language.
The property of A Bipolar Mom: Do not Copy or Use
There are so many questions that ran through my head but our child comes first and we proceeded with the hearing and speech assessment. Well long story short his hearing is fine and it was determined that our two-year-old son has enough speech delay that he should have speech therapy. I am not going to lie but it very hard to hear the word "delay" you begin to think about all sorts of what ifs. However, in life there are so many what ifs and just like many other challenges we would embrace this and hit it full force and put our son first to give him the best possible outcome with the challenges he faced.
The first thing that our son's speech therapist told us is that we did not cause our son's delay. There are many things that can cause speech delay to an physical impairment to something going way down in their brain. Some where in our son's brain he is encountering difficulty using and coordinating lips, tongue, and jaw properly to make speech sounds. He is not speaking because I did not read to him enough, or talk to him enough, play with him, and so on. This did not make me a bad mom.
So if you have a child facing speech delay please realize you did not cause it you are not a bad parent!
I have always known his speech delay has never defined him. There are areas that my son excels in and is way ahead of the game to other kids his age. Just as kids are excelled in other areas and behind in other areas. A speech delay is simply a delay it does not mean he is less intelligent for a child who does not have a speech delay it simply means it is something that we need to work on to get him through this.
So if you have a child facing a speech delay please realize it does not define your child!
Using speech therapy has been one of the best things for him. Within the first couple of sessions I was already seeing improvement with my son's speech. Not only was seeing improvement with my son's speech but my husband and I were also being taught ways to communicate with our son. We help him and in between lessons. So it is just not your child going through speech therapy it is your entire family going through speech therapy and helping your child be the best they can be. It makes things easier and less stressful in the house because you and your child are communicating with each other. It broke my heart when my son could not tell you what they need your want not because they do no want because they do not how or can't. However, seeing your child slowly blossoming makes your heart melt and smile knowing they are making progress. Know that it goes on just speech therapy service. Whether you are using speech therapy services or not it goes beyond that. I am constantly finding new ways to help my son's speech delay by one doing our speech therapy homework, looking up games, researching, and son. There are so many resources and areas to research the options are endless and we have found some pretty neat ones. I will post some ones that we have done in a later blog.
So if you have a child facing a speech delay use all possible tools!
This is not an easy process. I have learned he is not going to be reciting and giving speeches over night. There are good days and bad days. We have great speech therapy lesson days and some days it is like his first day. However, with every step forward in the right direction is just that! So he first time he signed and said more or says a word that we were not even working on take it and embrace it. I love it when says a new word and when I tell him good job and his smile is so infectious.
So if you have a child facing a speech delay realize it will not resolve over night!
I realize everything will be okay
SO IF YOU HAVE A CHILD FACING A SPEECH DELAY EMBRACE IT AND REALIZE EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!
Now I usually stay away from parenting advice topics but I thought this is a fun one for me and pretty non conterversial. I mean we all want to have healthy teeth and good oral hygine and this is how I go about it!!! If you go in my children's bathroom there are three child toothbrushes to one toddler. No my kid does not have three mouths but rather learning how to brush his teeth. Now you would think my son would only need one toothbrush like most adults. However, teaching and brushing his teeth became a battle and something needed to change. I had to think...How am I going to ge this cute but very stubborn strong willed toddler to learn and want to brush his teeth? Well th first part of the problem was to make it fun I mean a lot of things become more enjoyable when they become fun...don't you agree?
Say Hello To Caleb
Toothbrush Fun
The first area I tackled or changed to help my son learn and want to brush his teeth was the toothbrush or should I say toothbrushes. I took Caleb with me to the store with me and the first toothbrush he picked out was a transformer toothbrush. I mean just like picking out big kid undies for potty training I felt like this was an important milestone for my child. I just made sure the bristles were soft or extra soft like our dentist recommended. It helped a lot because it was his toothbrush and he wanted to brush his teeth with it. However, my husband gets ready for work in that bathroom in wee hours of the morning so his toothbrush is in there as well and he has a spinbrush and Caleb was just fasicnated by it and always wanting to use it. So one day while I was out I came across a child's spin brush on sale it has a smaller head on it and designed for little mouths and hands. I also came across a light up toothbrush in the shape of a lightsaber and the reason I bought this was because it stays lighted for two minutes. Now bare with me I will explain in just a minute why he has three toothbrushes. I also keep a couple toothbrushes on stock for travel for him and just in case something happens to one of this toothbrushes.
The second area I tackled or changed was making brushing his teeth fun or ways to keep him wanting to brush his teeth. So I thought of fun and creative ways. The first thing I let my son do is pick how he will brush his teeth by picking a toothbrush. Each toothbrush has its own game or way of brushing his teeth. If he picks the basic toothbrush it is a copycat game and he must copy cat everything I do. Sometime I clap or raise my hands, sing (badly) and then making brushing movements and brusm my teeth and he copies. I do suggest though if you use this game you do not make the child move like jumping or running because if the child has the toothbrush in their mouth they could trip your fall and really hurt themselves. If he picks the spinbrush he has to act like a big boy because his Daddy is a big boy. This one is not so much as fun but as a lot of positive reinforcement. He moves the stool by himself, puts the toothpaste on the brush, brushes his teeth by himself, rinses his brush, an wipes down the sink all by himself. In the meantime I am telling him what a big boy he is and reminding him of the routine and there to help just incase. I just cannot explain the smile on his face when he has all done!!! Finally if he picks the toothbrush that light sup we brush are teeth in the dark for two minutes. We put his stool up to the sink turn off the lights (the night light comes on and you can see the sink and have visibility if not it could get kind of messy). He has a blast brushing his teeth with a green light!! When I let him pick this toothbrush I stand right behind him on the stool so he cannot fall and I reinforce the importance to him about him not to run or even walk with the tooth brush in his mouth.
I found it amazing that sometimes he wanted nothing to do with light up brush or switches daily but it keeps him engaged which I love. We also engage the frequencey of brushing his teeth. I usually like my son to brush his teeth at least twice a day we sometimes do more depending what he been eating and because he is still learning. Once I am confident that I know he knows how to brush his teeth properly I am sure it will go to about two times but we are still a bit away from that goal. I noticed the more thrilled about making brushing teeth exciting so is he! Often times when I tell him it is time to brush his teeth he makes a bee line to the bathroom!
Other Little Tidbets
I focus on routine and skills with my children i often find tools to aid with that. After Christmas I found this FAST TRACK SMILES HOTWHEELS SET (I think I paid $2 for it in the after Christmas sel at Walmart I even bought my 4-month old daughter at the time a Tinkerbell one and have it stored away for when it is her time to start brushing so hopefully she likes faires). His set comes with a lillte cup, toothbrush holder,cheap toothbrush (which I snagged for a cleaning brush) and has a whotwheels decoration on it. The only thing I do not like about it is the car likes to pop off it so I am going to have to glue it on there! Caleb understands where the toothbrush goes when he is done brushing his teeth as well as other basic routine steps in his brushing teeth routine.
I purchased this at Walmart after Christmas so I am not sure if it is seasonal or if they will bring it back next Christmas season.
WHAT I AM WORKING ON
Now there are still a couple of things I am working on. With all thins this is a constant learning process and I am sure when he is older I will learn about and try to conquer other dental challenges
One of things that I am working on is teach Caleb how to brush his teeth properly and with him being two and trying to explain it to him about getting the front, back, side, and even the tounge has hit a road block. I mean you can show him or have him copy you show much. Some of the ideas that I have come up with envolve around the concept of mimic. Most children will watch what you do then proceed to mimic what you have done. I have thought about getting two sets of chattering teeth or making something in my crafting mind of fake teeth and sitting down with my son and teaching him how to brush the teeth of these items or even a doll with teet. The only problem is Caleb does not like to sit to sit down very long so I am not sure if it will capture his attention but I am going to have to try.
The second thing I am trying to teach my son is how to spit. I would have never thought it would be this hard to teach a boy how to spit!!! I would think this is something he would want to do but none the less we are still working on this and I can only assume will come with time and practice. With this being said we are using a fluoride-free training tooth paste which is safe to swallow. Now I know there are many opinions on what toothpaste for your children and family to use all I can it is personal choice and research the right tooth paste for your little one.
An example of trainging toothpaste on the market to day. You can find it at most supermarkets, drug stores, and online.
Once he learns how to spit we are moving on to flossing, rinsing, and swishing (with water and mouth rinse if need be). There are tons of items out there. Please reserach all items and figure out what is best for your family and what may be right for my family may not be right for yours.
The third thing is routine. My son loves routine and does respond to visuals like charts but because we are still working on several milestones I do not want to overwhelm him with charts so that is for a later time. I have included some pictures of examples of routine and brushing charts. If you google or on pinterest you can find tons of printables. If you are crafty there are tons of ideas on making routine charts and so on...
and this is my world of teaching my toddler how to brush his teeth...
THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON HOW I TACKLED TEACHING MY TODDLER BRUSH HIS TEETH I STRESS WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. THE METHODS THAT I USE MAY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU DISAGREE WITH BUT ARE IN NO WAY MADE TO OFFEND YOUR PARENTING STYLE. I MAY DISAGREE WITH YOUR PARENTING STYLE OR PARTS YOUR STYLE BUT I RESPECT YOUR CHOICES AND ASK YOU TO EXTEND THE SAME RESPECT TO ME. HAPPY READING!
Okay I know before I start this post.. a lot of parents are going to know a lot about their "parenting styles" but if you are like me I am confused and do not understand the labels. I do understand that as parents we each have are own style but did not realized it gets lumped into these categories of "parenting styles". Now before I go further I am still relatively new to parenting with two little ones a now 5 month old little girl and a very active 2 year-old little boy. So perhaps I will gather better understanding of parenting styles as my children become older. Well anyways I approached this post with a non-bias attitude towards the different styles of parenting.
If you type in your favorite search site "types of parenting" or "parenting style" it is amazing what comes up. Without clicking on any results and just looking at the titles some sites say there are 3 common types of parenting, another says 4, and one even says 12... no wonder why I am confused! So as I continue with this post I will provide links to my findings.
1. Authoritarian Parenting- is a type of parenting where a child is expected to follow strict rules and guidelines set by the parents. The failure to follow the rules set by the parents often results in punishment. The article further explains that this type parenting style the parents tend not to explain the reason behind the rules set in place for their children.
2. Authoritative Parenting- very much like authoritarian parenting the child is expected to follow rules set by the parents but unlike authoritarian parenting this parenting style is more democratic. Parents often in this parenting style are more open to listening to their children and more responsive. When a child fails to meet expectations, the parents are more forgiving then punishing. They want their punishments to be supportive rather punitive.
3. Permissive Parenting- is a type of parenting also sometimes referred to as indulgent parenting and often have very few demands of their children. The parents often do not discipline their children because of the low expectations of "maturity" and "self-control". This type of parenting is more responsive to their children then demanding. Permissive parents often take on the role of a friend to the child that that of a parent.
4. Uninvolved Parenting- is characterized by having few demands, low responsiveness, and little to no communication. The parents in this style often provide for their children with basic needs but in extreme cases may even reject or neglect the needs of their children.
The second article I cam across which can be found here http://www.livestrong.com/article/76463-types-parenting-styles/ talks about the first three parenting styles listed above but talks about how your parenting style may change over time and even day by day. It also talks about how parents fall in general into one of these three groups and often each parent may fall into a different parenting style. That is very common to have different parenting styles in one household.
Then comes the terms of parenting such as "helicopter parent", "crunchy parent", "toxic parenting", "positive parenting", "attachment parenting", "unconditional parenting". I know some of these are funny terms.. well to me to at least. Now some of these terms are the same or similar in nature.
Now for me the one that stands out the most is "crunchy parenting". By looking it up it encompasses but not limited too eco-friendly concepts, co-sleeping, breast feeding, tv-free, buying local, homeschool, and so on. This parenting style encompasses so much it suggest that all parents may be a little "crunchy". You can find more information at http://www.littlecrunchy.com/2012/08/what-is-crunchy-parenting.html.
Helicopter parent is also known as "overprotective parenting". Now trying to find a non-bias definition or explanation of helicopter parenting was a little difficult. What I can find is largely is that is parents that want to protect their children from harm and are "very" involved with their children's life to the point of extremes. In some extreme cases helicopter parents have called their child's professors about grades to calling their each child morning to wake up. Now this type of parenting style has a lot of articles on why it is not good to be a helicopter parent and when you type it in the search sites that is what you will mostly find in the results. That is your opinion and views on helicopter parenting. I did however find a quiz : Are You a Helicopter Parent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent .
So do you want to know what I learned by writing this post? That my parenting style really cannot be lumped into one group and it encompasses many different styles and approaches. My parenting style also changes sometimes even day to day. Myself as a parent cannot be labeled just under one. So if have to give myself a title it would just have to be MOM!
