Monday, July 19, 2010

6th Mommy Mondays

LAST DAY TO ENTER MY AD SPOT GIVEAWAY FOR 2 WINNERS! - http://craftymommydiva.blogspot.com/2010/07/2-ad-spot-giveaways.html
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I almost forgot it was Monday! Mondays aren't as bad when you're a stay at home mom. You don't get much break on the weekends so you don't realize.

Check out Mommy Mondays at A Mommy's Blessings. She's been offering a Mommy Tip every week lately.


This week she talks about...
"Do not do it all yourself!
Being a mom has the highest demands of any job out there. It's 24/7 work and it never stops. At least until they are grown.
You have to let your children help you.
They can do so much more around the house then you give them credit for. I have such a hard time giving up my duties to them because I know I can do it faster, and I seem to forget they have two good arms and legs."
I let my 19 mo. old son help with some things. He can put the silverware in the drawer (I just have to put them in their right compartments) and he can put them in the dishwasher (I save the sharp knives for me to put in). He helps put laundry in the washing machine. He helps clean the dryer vent, put the dryer sheet in, close the door and press the button to start it.
I think I need to have my husband help more too with household chores. Yes he works 8 hrs. a day, but he makes messes at the house too.

Later she says: "Getting to the point where you are utterly exhausted, stressed, and frustrated with all that needs done is not good for you or for your children."

I haven't been out by myself in a while and I can definitely feel a difference. Because I don't get that time, I see myself slacking in all areas - it's harder to keep up with everything especially cleaning. It's hard to go out with friends though because I have to wait until my husband gets home after 8pm or they have kids too where they have to find someone to watch them. I'm hoping to have a girls' night out of the house to go see Eclipse this week though. We'll see.
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I wanted to share with you this week about getting my son into his toddler bed (his crib converts into one). He's 19 1/2 months old. I've been wanting to do this probably since he was about 15 months, but then for 2 months he wouldn't sleep through the night, we thought we'd be moving soon, then we were going on vacation....but finally we've done it especially since we see no signs of moving anytime soon (heard that moving can mess things up).
We knew he was ready because when we told him to lay down in his crib, he would. When we were on vacation, he slept on a little mattress on the floor and did great. Also he knew how to get down from things. Then ever since he's had a pillow, he doesn't roll around all over his bed anymore so less worries about him falling off.
 
He's done pretty well I think. It's not too hard to get him to stay on his bed. He knows when he's tired. When he doesn't stay on his bed, I've tried the method of taking his stuffed animals away. He has two. Then after that I take his pillow away. After that I leave and close the door. With that method - I hadn't had to take more than 1 stuffed animal away before he knew.
 
The last couple days though, he hasn't been holding his stuffed animals so I've resorted to threatening to leave. 3 chances and I really leave and close the door. I don't mind staying next to him on the floor, singing songs to him if he'll stay on his bed, but if he doesn't I'm gone. I've only had to do that once. When we went to wake him up for church, we found him on his bed not on the floor like most kids we've heard about. So that was cool.

I leave his door partially open when he is asleep so when he wakes up, he comes to our room and gets us up. He's so attached to us, being with us that I'm not worried about him getting into things. He's a good kid that way.

What tips or tricks have you learned about getting your kid out of a crib and into a bed? What ages did you do it at? How did you know your child was ready?

1 comment:

Holly said...

Thanks for linking to me! I will try and do the same for you too!

Getting little ones to sleep in their big bed is hard...Usually we do it right before a new baby is going to arrive. We start out with naptime and don't force them to stay the first few times. Then after a bit, we make them stay in it until they are used to it. Then we do the same thing with nights, but usually the first few weeks they only stay in the bed for a few hours before coming in the room to cry at me. Then I usually put them back in the crib for a bit. Good luck!