Cold Spaghetti

My friend and fellow PhD candidate, Eva, came by yesterday for a visit. Eva has become the go-to gal for the Department of Homeland Security, who, having recently figured out that many New Orleans area residents speak spanish, hired Eva to record Public Service Announcements for broadcast on local spanish radio and television stations. (Apparently no one in the local Department of Homeland Security can read aloud in Spanish. Interesting.)

It was great to talk to her. I gained some insight into the exploding Latino migrant population (clarification: exploding, yet, invisible Latino population) and some of the existing services (clarification: first come, first serve limited services capped at approximately 1 person per day). There is a great deal of work to be done here… it is a great time to be here if you are someone who is interested in disaster services and infrastructure building!

We also talked a bit about dissertations (*gasp!*) I vocalized a little of what I’m thinking about and enjoyed hearing positive, thoughtful feedback; it was an excellent mini mental recharge. As a result, I am having a hard time focusing today. What I really want to do is dive back into literature reviews and make contacts!

“Will, your shoes are on the wrong feet.”

“No. My feet on wrong.”

* What does discipline mean to you? *
* How do you discipline? *
* What do you want your children to learn from discipline? *
* How were you disciplined? *

These were some of the questions addressed in a seminar I attended, “Disciplining Your Child From Zero to Three” with developmental psychologist Dr. Pat Blackwell. Dr. Blackwell came to Abeona House at the bequest of our director and gave this free seminar to staff and parents.

I learned:
– Discipline is teaching. And next to love, is the most important thing we give children.
– Toddlers think on the outside and are unable to process cause and effect — there is no filter, so they “try” everything to see what will happen
– Discipline starts in infancy. When babies are left to cry, they are less able to self-regulate emotions.
– “Mr. Rodgers” style conversation of describing emotions and situations works very well with toddlers
– Toddlers cannot feel empathy. However, we can use modeling to teach empathetic behavior so that when they are able to process those types of emotions, they understand how to deal with them appropriately.

Since the seminar, I’ve realized:
– My goal in disciplining is to build my child’s self-esteem and self-control through teaching, not to force them to blindly obey through authorative power
– Specific descriptions of how something makes me feel works well as a motivator for Will
– Modeling is not the best tool to use with Will at this time, or maybe my skills here are weak
– All of these things sound much easier and sensible in a room of adults with no children present.
There definitely are no “answers” for how to get a toddler or preschooler to listen at every moment. Dr. Blackwell made me feel better by stressing that discipline is a life-long learning process. I feel better just knowing that this isn’t suppose to be easy!

What to do with two kids in the hot morning air? Today’s solution: get thee to the shade of the park. It was a full morning with geese, ducks, squirrels, birds, and turtles. Question: there were at least two types of turtles in the water today. One seemed like the standard box turtle that we normally see. The other were larger (much larger) and had pointed heads and snouts… are these snapping turtles?



It was a fun morning, until the heat became too much for Kate and she asked to be brought inside. I felt pretty happy about our morning adventure… until I saw it was only 10am and there were 2 hours to go until naptime! Doh! 

Activity: prints of hands and feet made with tempura paints
Soundtrack: REM’s Automatic for the People
Colors: blue, yellow, pink
Kate got into the action, too. (Note her blue foot, below.) She also took a brush to the head.
Some final products. Top picture is Will’s hands and feet. The bottom shows a hand and foot for each of us (Mommy, Will, and Baby Kate.)
Kate’s hair. Restored to it’s fluffy you-name-it-color after bathtime paint removal.
 

It’s official! My Dad, my Brother, and Paul are goin’ in the hole, the Big Hole, The Grand Canyon.

My Dad has been talking about doing this for years with “his sons” and they officially booked it yesterday. Weeks of research went into the planning. They finally decided on 8 days rafting the Colorado, through the entire Canyon, all the way to Lake Mead. They leave Las Vegas May 11th.

Dad is very excited.

I am all for the boys spending a week in the hole. My role as mother to young kids and as food source for Kate precludes my rafting abilities. But I do not think that us girls should necessarily miss out on an adventure. Any ideas? Anyone know of any kid-friendly resorts or itineraries that include kids activities (ie: structured babysitting while Mom gets a massage?) I think that would be a really good way to occupy ourselves while Paul is gone!

But looks aren’t everything!
(The band-aid on Kate’s tummy is from Will, who decided that a band-aid would help Kate’s tummy “feel better.”)

Yesterday afternoon, I took advantage of being in Mobile (read: location where I get to use my Dad’s camera!) to take on both kids at the same time for a photo session.

Will enthusiastically held Kate. He showers his sister with love and sweetness, some of which I am trying desperately to capture on film. He did his best to prop her up, hold her head, or tickle her as he thought was necessary. Many of these techniques involved (unintended) manuvers usually reserved for future sybling torture, like headlocks. Kate handled it all extremely well.

Kate back-handed him during a particularly spastic moment, one that caught Will completely on surprise.

I tried to get some good naked-baby butt shots of Kate in the beautiful initial-sewn bloomers sent from Aunt Gwen. I fear that the full-effect of the bloomers won’t be photographically captured until she can sit unsupported. But check out that head control!

(Will wanted to make sure we got his foot in the picture. He was very insistent.)

When Kate got a little fussy (gassy), Will also became Very Upset. He gave Kate lots of kisses to fell better.

To see more of the photo session, including outtakes and Will’s diva collection, click here.